LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 
HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


' 


/  **L- 


s 


Latest  Light 


on 


Abraham    Lincoln 


LINCOLN  IN  1856 

From  a  photograph  copy  of  an  ambrotype  taken  by  McMasters  at  Prince- 
ton, Illinois,  July  4,  1856.  The  only  picture  of  Lincoln  known  to  have 
been  taken  during  that  year.  Photograph  presented  the  author  by 
Mrs.  W.  E.  McVay,  Los  Angeles,  California. 

(See  page  66) 


Latest  Light 

on 

Abraham  Lincoln 

and  War-time  Memories 

Including  many  Heretofore  Unpublished  Incidents  and 
Historical  Facts  concerning  his  Ancestry,  Boy- 
hood, Family,  Religion,  Public  Life, 
Trials   and  Triumphs 

ILLUSTRATED 

With  many  Reproductions  from  Original  Paintings, 
Photographs,  etc. 


BY 

ERVIN  CHAPMAN,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Author  of  "A  Stainless  Flag,"  "Particefs  Criminis," 
' '  The  Cxolgosx  of  Trade  and  Commerce, ' '  etc. 


WITH    INTRODUCTION    BY 
BISHOP  JOHN  W.  HAMILTON 


NEW  YORK  CHICAGO  TORONTO 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

LONDON          AND          EDINBURGH 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
ERVIN  CHAPMAN 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago  :  1 7  North  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto  :  25  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:  100  Princes  Street 


TO   MY  WIFE 


AND   OUR   FIVE   CHILDREN 

2Flora,  Jfleafr,  g^lttta, 
Pell  anb  "tnun 


"Let  American  High  Schools  teach  at  least  one 
year  of  Lincoln.  Teaching  the  use  of  the  English 
language  is  one  of  the  prime  objects  of  public 
school  instruction.  Lincoln  was  one  of  the  mas- 
ters of  English.  His  simple,  luminous  sentences, 
which  go  as  straight  as  bullets  are  models  for  the 
pupil  which  cannot  be  improved  upon.  School 
instruction  seeks  to  form  and  strengthen  a  pupil's 
reasoning  powers.  To  follow  Lincoln's  mind 
through  his  great  controversies  is  an  education 
in  reasoning  that  no  classical  example  can  sur- 
pass. 

"It  is  high  time  he  became  a  staple  of  American 
education.  His  collected  writings  and  speeches 
not  only  contain  the  soul  of  the  American  story 
but  are  highly  worth  reading  simply  as  literature 
— as  the  picture  of  a  mind  slowly  evolving  out  of 
apparent  common-place  into  supreme  greatness, 
and  so  leading  a  people  through  a  great  crisis." 
— JUDGE  R.  M.  WANAMAKER. 


INTRODUCTION 

By  BISHOP  JOHN  W.  HAMILTON,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
Chancellor  American  University,  Washington,  D.  C. 

ANOTHER  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln?  No,  not  a 
biography,  but  the  latest  authentic  information  relative 
to  many  features  of  his  life  in  which  the  world  is 
deeply  interested.  Such  information  is  always  in  demand  and 
at  this  time  it  is  peculiarly  welcome.  In  our  own  country 
Abraham  Lincoln  is  today  held  in  higher  esteem  than  ever 
before,  and  public  interest  in  his  life  and  in  all  for  which  he 
is  known  to  have  contended,  is  constantly  increasing.  In  pub- 
lic schools  and  institutions  of  higher  education,  in  organiza- 
tions for  literary  culture  and  pursuits,  on  the  lecture  platform 
and  in  the  pulpit,  Lincoln's  name  is  heard  more  frequently 
and  with  greater  interest  than  is  that  of  any  other  American. 
And  scarcely  less  interesting  or  potential  is  his  name  in  other 
lands. 

The  world  has  set  its  halo  about  him  for  what  it  already 
knows  of  him  but  that  only  increases  the  desire  to  know  more. 
And  Doctor  Ervin  Chapman  has  responded  to  that  desire  by 
producing  a  work  in  which  there  is  a  great  fund  of  informa- 
tion concerning  Lincoln  never  before  published.  He  has  been 
able  to  do  this  because  of  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the  work- 
ings of  the  general  government  and  his  close  and  prolonged 
acquaintance  and  association  with  eminent  men  during  Lin- 
coln's administration.  He  is,  therefore,  able  to  write  with 
authority  and  has  done  so  in  a  manner  so  illuminating  and 
instructive  as  to  win  for  himself  a  well  accredited  distinction 
among  all  who  have  written  about  Lincoln  and  the  times  in 
which  he  lived. 

Doctor  Chapman's  eminent  service  during  his  long  life 
devoted  so  fully  to  the  progressive  and  memorable  achieve- 

ix 


x  INTRODUCTION 

ments  of  those  historical  and  turbulent  times,  gives  him 
superior  qualifications  to  write  with  deepest  sympathy  and 
friendliness.  Sympathy  rules  the  world,  the  world  of  Letters 
as  well  as  the  world  of  Life.  A  friend  will  show  himself 
friendly.  A  foe  cannot  conceal  his  enmity.  Other  things  being 
equal  the  friend  is  more  reliable  than  the  foe,  more  popular 
surely.  There  are  a  hundred  readers  of  Abbott's  "Life  of 
Napoleon"  to  one  who  reads  the  life  by  Scott.  Because  of 
his  deep  sympathy  with  all  that  distinguished  the  life  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  the  author  has  here  given  us  a  work  in  the 
perusal  of  which  one  can  hear  the  heart  throbs  of  the  writer. 
Good  news  can  never  come  too  often  and  this  is  a  book  of 
good  news  which  we  will  never  tire  of  reading.  It  tells  us 
what  we  always  believed  was  true  about  Lincoln  and  the  proofs 
are  so  conclusive  that  no  misleading  myths  or  legends  will 
hereafter  be  given  credence. 

I  commend  to  every  reader  the  author's  impassionate  appeal 
for  the  aid  of  the  platform,  pulpit  and  press  in  repeating  the 
entrancing  story  of  the  humble  but  hallowed  home  and  family 
from  which  this  great  servant  and  messenger  of  God  came  to 
save  the  nation  and  to  redeem  a  race.  I  have  known  Doctor 
Chapman  for  many  years  and  have  ever  held  him  in  high 
esteem.  I  have  rejoiced  in  his  great  work  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
and  throughout  the  nation,  and  have  often  announced  my  con- 
viction that  of  all  men  I  have  known  he  was  the  best  adapted 
to  the  work  of  reform  in  which  he  was  such  an  able  and 
successful  leader.  I  rejoice  that  he  has  lived  to  complete  the 
great  work  on  Abraham  Lincoln  which  he  has  been  for  so  many 
years  engaged  in  producing.  It  will  undoubtedly  prove  the 
crowning  work  of  his  remarkable  life.  He  has  given  abundant 
evidence  of  his  fitness  to  write  of  the  important  matters  with 
which  he  is  familiar.  He  has  added  a  valuable  contribution 
to  the  political  history  of  the  nation  and  I  am  pleased  to  present 
my  venerable  friend  of  many  years  to  my  many  friends  of 

many  lands. 

J.  W.  H. 


FOKEWORD 

IT  is  indeed  a  special  providence  that  a  unique  man  like  Dr. 
Ervin  Chapman  should  just  at  this  time  of  great  emer- 
gency give  to  the  world  a  work  on  Abraham  Lincoln,  in 
the  preparation  of  which  he  has  been  engaged  for  more  than 
half  a  century. 

Of  "Particeps  Criminis,"  "Bob"  Burdette  said,  "Doctor 
Chapman  is  the  only  man  who  could  write  this  book,"  and  the 
same  is  true  of  the  "Latest  Light  on  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
War-time  Memories."  No  one  but  this  "Statesman-Preacher," 
as  he  is  called,  could  so  successfully  have  supplemented  the 
three  thousand  Lincoln  publications  that  have  appeared,  with  a 
work  that  is  unlike  all  that  has  been  written  concerning  Abra- 
ham Lincoln. 

From  boyhood  Doctor  Chapman  has  been  engaged  in  literary 
pursuits  and  his  writings  have  always  been  distinguished  for 
their  fascinating  originality.  His  books  entitled,  "A  Stainless 
Flag,"  "The  Czolgosz  of  Trade  and  Commerce,"  and  "Parti- 
ceps Criminis,"  have  been  widely  and  eagerly  read.  At  sixteen 
he  was  on  the  lecture  platform.  At  eighteen  he  was  active  in  the 
organization  of  the  Republican  party  and  took  the  stump  for 
Fremont,  and  at  twenty-two  he  made  one  hundred  speeches  for 
the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  President.  When  but  a 
lad  he  could  repeat  from  memory  the  greater  part  of  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence  and  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  "Jefferson's  Letters,"  the  "Madison  Papers,"  "The 
Federalist,"  "Benton's  Thirty  Years'  View,"  and  "Democracy 
in  America,"  were  his  delight  while  still  in  his  teens  and  those 
works  are  yet  in  his  possession  with  his  original  annotations. 
I  have  been  thrilled  with  interest  as  I  have  handled  those  old, 
well-worn  but  well-preserved  volumes,  in  the  perusal  of  which 


2  FOREWORD 

this  studious  country  boy  unconsciously  prepared  for  the  great 
work  he  was  destined  to  accomplish.  The  knowledge  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  civil  government  acquired  by  the 
study  of  such  great  books  gave  strength  and  imagination  to  the 
fervid  eloquence  of  the  "Boy  Orator,"  as  he  was  then  called.  He 
was  brought  into  close  association  with  the  most  distinguished 
men  of  the  nation,  and  after  the  election  of  Lincoln  as  President 
he  was  called  to  Washington  to  fill  an  important  position  in  the 
Federal  government  and  to  be  an  active  participant  in  many  of 
the  decisive  movements  of  those  historic  times,  some  of  which 
were  not  known  to  the  public  and  are  not  until  now  mentioned 
in  history. 

During  his  connection  with  the  government  at  Washington, 
Doctor  Chapman  began  the  accumulation  of  data  which  has 
made  possible  the  production  of  this  great  work.  His  claim 
that  during  those  fifty  years  nothing  of  value  respecting  Lin- 
coln has  escaped  him  seems  fully  justified  by  the  wealth  of  in- 
formation he  has  here  given  to  the  public.  Without  the  extra- 
ordinary opportunities  and  the  thorough  personal  preparation, 
which  began  in  boyhood  and  has  continued  through  an  extended 
life,  no  author  could  have  written  a  work  of  such  great  and 
permanent  value ;  and  from  a  field  less  extended  or  less  produc- 
tive such  riches  could  not  have  been  acquired.  Momentous 
measures  and  movements  have  passed  like  a  panorama  and  men 
have  come  and  gone  as  in  a  moving  pageant  since  Doctor  Chap- 
man began  his  preparation  for  this  work.  Not  one  man  is  now 
living  who  was  then  prominent  in  public  life.  At  that  time 
Elaine,  Conkling,  Grant,  and  Garfield  were  just  beginning  to 
attract  attention.  Cleveland,  Harrison  and  McKinley  were  un- 
known. John  Hay  was  only  a  President's  private  secretary; 
Roosevelt  had  seen  but  seven  summers,  Taft  eight,  and  Wood- 
row  Wilson  was  a  restless  boy  of  nine  years  in  a  Presbyterian 
manse  in  Virginia. 

And  while  this  procession  was  passing  Doctor  Chapman, 
like  a  toiling  miner,  was  delving  in  the  rock  for  the  gold  that 
enriches  the  pages  of  this  historical  masterpiece.  In  this  he 


FOREWORD  3 

has  not  been  hindered  but  helped  by  the  ceaseless  activities  that 
have  made  his  life  so  full  of  notable  achievements.  As  a  pastor, 
platform  lecturer,  participant  in  great  conventions,  and  valiant 
leader  in  reforms,  he  has  always  been  the  champion  of  those  civic 
and  national  ideals  which  he  learned  from  the  great  books  he 
studied  so  diligently  in  early  life,  and  which  with  such  con- 
summate skill  he  has  in  this  work  shown  to  be  the  mainspring 
of  the  marvelous  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

He  has  been  a  preacher  of  great  earnestness  and  power,  with 
pronounced  evangelistic  gifts  and  inclinations,  but  he  is  most 
distinguished  as  an  authority  on  the  fundamental  principles  of 
civil  government,  and  as  a  wise  and  successful  leader  in  reform 
movements.  When  the  Anti-Saloon  League  was  organized  in 
California  there  was  a  unanimous  and  unyielding  demand  that 
Doctor  Chapman  should  become  the  leader  of  that  new  and 
unique  movement,  and  so  incomparable  were  his  achievements 
in  that  field  that  no  one  has  ever  doubted  the  wisdom  of  his 
selection  for  that  difficult  work.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be 
one  of  that  great  assembly  in  San  Francisco  that  sent  Doctor 
Chapman  out  into  California  as  superintendent  of  the  Anti- 
Saloon  League.  The  League  was  at  that  time  understood  to  be 
an  experimental  movement  but  Doctor  Chapman  insisted  that 
while  its  activities  might  be  in  a  measure  determined  by  con- 
ditions, its  ideals  must  be  fixed  and  immovable,  and  that  the 
liquor  traffic  must  be  regarded  and  dealt  with  not  as  a  business 
but  as  a  crime,  and  that  the  League  must  always  oppose  the 
adoption  of  liquor  license  and  any  increase  of  the  liquor  license 
tax.  He  had  learned  these  fundamentals  from  Lincoln  and  he 
adhered  to  them  as  tenaciously  as  the  great  Emancipator  insisted 
that  all  rightful  opposition  to  slavery  must  be  based  upon  the 
unalterable  proposition  that  slavery  is  wrong. 

Dr.  Howard  H.  Russell,  founder  and  first  superintendent  of 
the  Anti-Saloon  League,  says :  "From  the  day  Doctor  Chapman 
began  the  study  of  law  in  1856  until  1898  when  he  became 
superintendent  of  the  California  Anti-Saloon  League,  every  day 
of  his  life  seems  to  have  been  spent  in  a  school  of  discipline, 


4  FOREWORD 

development  and  instruction  for  his  state-wide  and  nation-wide 
work."  And  when  Doctor  Chapman  induced  the  National 
League  to  declare  that  the  liquor  license  tax  was  "an  entrench- 
ment for  the  liquor  traffic  and  the  higher  the  tax  the  stronger 
that  entrenchment,"  Doctor  Russell  said,  "Doctor  Chapman  has 
convinced  us  all.  I  believe  this  is  one  of  the  most  important 
measures  we  have  thus  far  undertaken."  And  when  a  year  later 
the  League  was  led  to  declare  that  the  liquor  traffic  is  "not  a 
business  but  a  crime,"  the  national  superintendent,  Dr.  P.  A. 
Baker,  said  to  Doctor  Chapman,  "You  have  lifted  us  a  notch 
higher."  Upon  that  high  level  Doctor  Chapman's  "Stainless 
Flag"  address  was  prepared  and  delivered  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  this  nation  under  the  auspices  of  the 
National  League.  It  was  my  supreme  privilege  when  a  pastor 
in  Brooklyn  to  hear  that  epochal  address  in  New  York  City  and 
subsequently  to  learn  of  its  great  influence  in  creating  and 
maintaining  the  conviction  now  so  dominant  in  the  nation  that 
civil  government  cannot  rightfully  give  legal  standing  to  the 
traffic  in  strong  drink.  That  address  on  "A  Stainless  Flag"  is 
not  outranked  in  power  and  eloquence  by  either  Neal  Dow  or 
John  B.  Gough. 

As  the  doctrines  of  Abraham  Lincoln  prepared  Doctor  Chap- 
man for  his  great  influence  in  temperance  reform,  so  his  work 
in  that  reform  contributed  very  largely  to  his  preparation  for 
this  monumental  work  on  Lincoln.  Without  the  least  break  or 
delay  he  passed  from  the  strenuous  struggles  of  the  Anti-Saloon 
League  to  the  work  of  classifying  and  arranging  the  varied  and 
scholarly  material  he  had  accumulated.  I  was  closely  asso- 
ciated with  him  when  he  turned  from  all  other  activities  to  the 
happy  labor  of  preparing  the  manuscript  of  this  work.  I  ob- 
served the  enthusiasm  with  which  he  retired  from  the  public 
arena  of  conflict  and  sought  the  quiet  seclusion  in  which  he 
could  work  without  interruption.  And  I  have  been  thrilled 
with  delight  as  I  have  seen  this  work  take  definite  form  and  ex- 
pand into  such  magnificent  and  masterful  proportions.  My  hopes 
were  high  when  I  first  learned  of  the  plan  and  scope  of  the  pro- 


ERVIN  CHAPMAN,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


FOREWORD  5 

posed  volume,  and  I  fully  appreciated  Doctor  Chapman's  rare 
fitness  for  the  task  he  had  undertaken,  but  I  had  never  imagined 
that  to  the  thousands  of  Lincoln  publications  another  could  be 
added  of  such  surpassing  interest  and  value.  And  my  greatest 
astonishment  is  in  finding  in  this  work  so  much  valuable  infor- 
mation which  does  not  appear  in  any  other  publication.  I  am 
delighted  to  note  the  characteristic  courage  with  which  the 
author  calmly  sets  aside  as  untruthful  many  harmful  'statements 
concerning  Lincoln  which  have  been  given  wide  publicity,  and 
the  conclusive  evidence  he  produces  in  support  of  his  declar- 
ations. 

It  is  not  a  new  Lincoln  but  a  true  and  real,  indeed  a  living 
Lincoln,  which  Doctor  Chapman  gives  us  in  this  work,  a  Lincoln 
of  whose  lineage  and  birth,  and  personal  appearance  and  re- 
ligious belief  and  experience  we  have  every  reason  to  be  proud. 
And  it  is  that  incomparably  great  and  gracious  Lincoln  whom 
the  world  must  ever  hereafter  behold,  admire  and  imitate. 

Doctor  Chapman  has  placed  a  grateful  posterity  under  ever- 
lasting obligation  to  him  for  this  brilliant  masterpiece. 

CHARLES  EDWAKD  LOCKE, 
Pastor  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


PEEFACE 

THIS  work  is  the  product  of  more  than  half  a  century  of 
diligent  preparation  and  labor.  It  is  added  to  the  vast 
Lincoln  library  in  the  belief  that  it  contains  fresh  and 
heretofore  unpublished  information  relative  to  Abraham  Lin- 
coln and  men  and  events  of  his  day.  My  personal  participation 
in  the  activities  of  the  national  government  during  Mr.  Lincoln's 
Presidency,  and  my  intimate  acquaintance  and  close  official 
association  with  many  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  that  day 
afforded  me  the  best  of  facilities  for  acquiring  knowledge  of 
what  was  then  in  progress  throughout  the  nation.  Therefore, 
my  personal  reminiscences  of  those  years,  which  are  published 
for  the  first  time  in  this  work,  contain  much  valuable  informa- 
tion which  other  writers  seem  not  to  have  secured. 

In  addition  to  this  are  the  accumulations  of  prolonged  and 
careful  research  in  which  nothing  of  value  relative  to  Lincoln 
has  been  overlooked.  More  than  two  thousand  publications 
have  been  carefully  examined  and  made  to  contribute  to  the 
data  which  makes  authentic  every  statement  of  this  work. 
From  books  and  other  war-time  publications,  from  national  and 
local  official  records,  and  from  Confederate  documents  and  his- 
tories, items  have  been  gathered  and  woven  into  connected 
records  of  events  which  form  important  new  contributions  to 
authentic  history.  The  disclosures  thus  made  are  of  great  sig- 
nificance and  some  of  them  are  so  astounding  that  the  validity 
of  the  history  may  at  first  be  doubted.  But  investigation  will 
establish,  beyond  question,  the  truth  of  every  statement  and 
deduction  contained  herein. 

I  have  been  greatly  favored  and  aided  in  all  this  prolonged 
and  taxing  research.  Data  that  had  been  lost  have  by  diligent 
search  been  recovered,  and  much  of  which  I  had  never  heard 
came  unsought  into  my  possession  and  has  been  used  to  the 

7 


8  PREFACE 

great  advantage  of  this  work.  Many  doors  have  been  volun- 
tarily opened  to  me,  affording  admission  to  unsearched  realms 
abounding  in  new  and  exceedingly  valuable  material.  Sym- 
pathizing friends  and  strangers,  hearing  of  the  nature  and 
purpose  of  my  work,  have  contributed  information  that  has 
aided  me  greatly  to  enrich  these  pages  with  choice  Lincolniana 
in  literature  and  art. 

I  was  especially  fortunate  in  the  extended  research  which 
made  possible  the  preparation  of  the  account  of  the  Jaquess- 
Gilmore  Mission,  knowledge  of  which  during  its  progress  was 
not  had  even  by  the  President's  confidential  secretaries,  nor  by 
any  member  of  his  Cabinet.  A  great  flood  of  light  is  by  that 
fascinating  story  cast  upon  the  character  and  inner  life  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  revealing  his  secret  meditations  and  his  un- 
declared hopes  during  even  the  darkest  period  of  his  life.  Very 
extensive  and  unfrequented  fields  were  perseveringly  surveyed 
in  securing  the  information  given  in  that  chapter.  Each  item 
is  fully  authenticated  by  unquestionable  records,  but  here  only 
have  they  been  united  so  as  to  tell  the  thrilling  story  of  that 
unique  and  marvelously  successful  adventure. 

The  chapter  devoted  to  quotations  from  the  diary  of  Lin- 
coln's pastor,  Rev.  P.  D.  Gurley,  D.D.,  is  of  special  interest 
and  value.  The  existence  of  this  daily  record  by  the  able  and 
distinguished  minister  who,  during  Mr.  Lincoln's  Presidency, 
was  his  beloved  spiritual  adviser  and  his  esteemed  and  trusted 
counsellor,  has  for  some  time  been  known  to  a  limited  number 
of  persons  and  has  eagerly  been  sought  by  writers  and  pub- 
lishers, but  until  the  present  it  has  been  withheld  from  publica- 
tion. I  was  delighted  to  secure  the  manuscript  from  Doctor 
Gurley' s  daughter,  Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams  of  Washington, 
D.  C.,  and  I  heartily  commend  it  to  the  reader. 

A  considerable  portion  of  this  work  is  devoted  to  the  cor- 
rection of  errors.  No  man  in  American  history  is  so  generally 
misunderstood  as  Abraham  Lincoln.  Erroneous  statements  and 
opinions  relative  to  his  ancestry,  early  life,  family  relations, 
personal  appearance,  bearing,  habits,  attitude  to  reforms,  and 


PREFACE  9 

religious  belief  and  experience  have  long  remained  uncorrected 
to  the  great  detriment  of  the  world's  heritage  in  one  of  its 
most  important  characters.  Those  misrepresentations  and 
misconceptions  have  come  from  conditions  existing  during  Mr. 
Lincoln's  life,  and  from  the  malice  or  inexcusable  carelessness 
of  writers  since  his  assassination. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  before  the  nation  for  only  seven  years 
and  was  known  to  the  people  of  his  own  state  for  but  a  slightly 
more  extended  period.  However,  during  all  of  that  time  there 
was  in  progress  throughout  the  nation  a  great  moral  and  civic 
movement  which  was  characterized  by  intense  bitterness  of 
spirit,  and  personal  animosities. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  an  active  and  influential  participant  in 
that  contest  and  during  its  progress  he  was  the  target  for  the 
most  vindictive  and  cruel  personal  assaults  known  to  political 
campaigns.  At  first  the  misrepresentations  were  only  such  as 
are  usual  in  heated  political  contests,  for  he  was  always  held 
in  high  esteem  by  his  partisan  antagonists  in  Illinois.  But 
when  his  fame  became  national,  and  the  movement  against 
slavery  became  dangerous  to  that  institution,  the  warfare  against 
him  sank  to  a  lower  level  and  was  prosecuted  with  less  regard 
for  truth  and  honor. 

So  long  as  damaging  misrepresentations  were  confined  to 
the  campaign  statements  of  his  political  antagonists  their  in- 
fluence was  not  seriously  harmful,  but  when  his  former  law 
partner,  William  H.  Herndon,  published  in  his  "Life  of  Lin- 
coln" that  he  was  of  illegitimate  birth  and  had  declared  to 
him  that  the  same  was  true  of  his  mother,  the  wicked  falsehood 
was  accepted  as  true,  and  added  immensely  to  the  force  of 
other  untruthful  statements  that  were  given  wide  circulation. 
As  is  shown  in  this  work  Herndon's  statement  was  promptly 
and  indignantly  denied  and  was  proved  to  be  without  the  least 
foundation.  But  after  that  had  been  done  it  continued  to  be 
reproduced  in  later  works  and  was  given  wide  publicity. 

Herndon  was  a  pronounced  infidel  and  in  his  book  states 
that  Lincoln  also  was  an  unbeliever.  This  declaration  was 


io  PREFACE 

confirmed  by  Lamon,  another  infidel  author  of  a  Lincoln 
biography,  and  has  been  repeated  by  many  careless  writers  and 
widely  proclaimed  by  enemies  of  Christianity  and  of  Lincoln 
until,  in  spite  of  his  own  strong,  unequivocal  declarations  to 
the  contrary,  it  is  very  widely  believed  to  be  true.  In  like 
manner  many  other  harmful  errors  have  been  published  and 
accepted  until  the  true  image  of  Lincoln  is  quite  generally 
seen  through  a  mask  of  unfortunate  misconceptions. 

These  conditions  should  not  be  permitted  to  continue.  It 
is  due  the  memory  of  Lincoln  that  his  image,  so  admired  by 
the  world,  should  be  unmasked  and  made  to  appear  in  public 
thought  in  its  unmarred  purity  and  beauty.  The  misleading 
legendry  which  has  become  associated  with  his  name  should  be 
cast  aside  and  forgotten,  and  the  truthful  history  of  this  greatest 
product  of  the  new  world  should  be  reverently  learned  in  its 
entirety  and  faithfully  repeated  to  all  the  world,  and  to  suc- 
ceeding generations.  To  aid  in  accomplishing  this  result  is 
the  chief  purpose  of  this  work. 

The  charming  "Stories  about  Lincoln"  which  form  a 
chapter  are  pleasingly  illustrative  of  his  unique  and  delightful 
personality.  Mr.  Lincoln's  own  stories  have  been  given  large 
space  in  other  publications,  but  brief  accounts  of  events  with 
which  he  was  connected,  such  as  are  here  given,  have  had  less 
publicity.  They  are,  however,  bright  and  lovely  gems  picked 
up  on  vast  fields  of  research  and  are  here  given  their  illuminat- 
ing historical  settings. 

The  topical  arrangement  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  declarations  of 
religious  beliefs  and  experiences  constitute  a  feature  peculiar 
to  this  work.  By  this  grouping  of  his  own  statements  it  is 
possible  to  ascertain,  with  but  little  effort,  the  exact  truth 
relative  to  this  very  interesting  and  important  matter.  The 
collecting  of  this  material  from  the  large  number  of  books  con- 
sulted and  its  arrangement  topically  has  been  the  most  pro- 
longed and  tedious  feature  of  the  preparation  of  this  work. 
But  it  has  been  a  labor  of  love  and  of  unspeakable  delight. 
Ministers,  lecturers,  lawyers,  teachers  and  writers  are  busy 


H8*32tP>S5»3sa     ^   :SS*^M 

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PREFACE 


ii 


people  and  only  a  limited  number  have  access  to  the  thousands 
of  publications  in  which  this  material  may  be  found  and  from 
which  it  has  been  patiently  collected  and  classified,  as  gold  is 
gathered  from  a  mine  and  cast  into  form  for  convenient  use. 
If  this  shall  prove  helpful  to  my  busy,  burdened  fellow  workers 
I  shall  feel  amply  rewarded  for  my  tireless  labors  to  that  end. 

Special  mention  is  here  made  of  the  efficient  services  of  Miss 
Glenn  Will  in  the  diversified  lines  of  labor  by  which  this  book 
has  been  produced.  She  has  three  times  crossed  the  continent 
and  prosecuted  extensive  research  in  public  and  private  libraries 
and  in  museums  and  collections  of  rare  Lincolniana.  Too  much 
cannot  be  said  in  commendation  of  her  labors  and  achieve- 
ments. 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  here  to  acknowledge  the  valuable  assist- 
ance of  Rev.  James  M.  Campbell,  D.D.,  in  the  preparation  of 
this  volume.  Doctor  Campbell  has  attained  international  fame 
as  the  author  of  many  books  of  great  worth,  and  to  his  ability 
and  learning  the  character  of  this  book  is  in  no  small  measure 
due. 

In  a  statement  as  brief  as  this  must  be  it  is  not  possible"  to 
mention  all  who  have  aided  me  in  securing  data  or  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  this  work.  One  mind  has  been  constantly  alert  and 
watchful  for  facts  and  suggestions  concerning  Lincoln,  and  by 
that  assistance  from  my  wife  this  publication  has  been  made 
possible.  With  like  constancy,  though  for  a  less  extended 
period,  our  children  have  added  to  my  resources  of  literature 
and  art,  and  thus  and  otherwise  have  shared  in  my  labors  and 
achievements. 

Hon.  Robert  T.  Lincoln  has  with  characteristic  courtesy 
responded  to  all  my  requests  for  his  counsel  and  assistance,  and 
in  interviews  and  by  correspondence,  his  encouragement  and 
aid  have  been  exceedingly  helpful.  Persons  in  charge  of  public 
and  private  libraries,  and  of  collections  of  Lincolniana  have 
extended  every  needed  courtesy.  In  prosecuting  that  research 
assistance  of  special  value  has  been  received  from  D.  M.  Gan- 
dier,  D.D.,  Mrs.  W.  E.  McVey,  Rev.  George  W.  Wilson,  D.D., 


12  PREFACE 

Kev.  P.  C.  L.  Harris,  Miss  Carline  Mclllvaine,  Howard  H. 
Russell,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Miss  Laura  R.  Church  and  Mr.  Douglas 
Volk. 

Authors  and  publishers  have  with  uniform  cheerfulness 
granted  permission  to  reproduce  as  has  been  requested.  For 
such  courtesies  special  acknowledgment  is  here  made  to  Mr. 
Truman  H.  Bartlett,  Century  Company,  F.  C.  Iglehart,  D.D., 
Methodist  Book  Concern,  Robert  M.  Browne,  M.D.,  Mr.  Fred- 
erick H.  Meserve,  George  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  Miss  Ida  M.  Tar- 
bell,  Mrs.  Nellie  Blessing  Eyster,  Mr.  J.  L.  G.  Ferris,  William 
J.  Johnson,  D.D.,  the  Gerlach-Barklow  Company,  Mrs.  Caro- 
line Hanks  Hitchcock,  Houghton,  Mifflin  Company,  Colonel  A. 
K.  McClure,  Francis  Grierson,  Esq.,  Scribner's  Magazine, 
Everybody's  Magazine,  Little,  Brown  &  Company,  L.  C.  Page 
&  Company,  Mr.  John  W.  Lincoln,  Miss  Helen  Nicolay,  Mr. 
0.  H.  Olroyd,  Mr.  Harry  Roseland,  General  James  F.  Rusling, 
Colonel  W.  0.  Stoddard,  Doubleday,  Page  &  Company,  and 
Hon.  Henry  W.  Melvin. 

From  others  whose  names  do  not  here  appear  I  have  received 
encouragement  and  aid  which  I  hope  ever  to  remember  with 
appreciation  and  gratitude.  And  as  I  lay  aside  the  pen  with 
which  these  pages  have  been  written,  upon  this  work  believed 
to  have  been  begun  and  conducted  under  the  promptings  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  "I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind 
and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God." 

ERVIN  CHAPMAN. 
Los  ANGELES,  CALIFOBNIA. 


CONTENTS 
PABT  I 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  LINCOLN — FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE 17 

II.  LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE 43 

III.  THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION 83 

IV.  LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE 141 

V.  LINCOLN  AND  SLAVERY — OPPOSED  TO  SLAVERY 176 

VI.  EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED 193 

VII.  EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION 219 

VIII.  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT 249 

PART  II 

I.  REMINISCENCES  OF  LINCOLN'S  SECOND  INAUGURAL.  .  277 

II.  LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH 299 

III.  LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH — (Continued) 319 

IV.  LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER 364 

V.  LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE 395 

VI.  LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY 441 

VII.  THE  WADE-DAVIS  MANIFESTO 484 

VIII.  EXCERPTS  FROM  UNPUBLISHED  MANUSCRIPT  BY  DR. 

P.  D.  GURLEY 499 

PART  III 

I.  SHORT  STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN 511 

INDEX 557 

13 


"From  the  union  of  the  Colonists,  Puritans 
and  Cavaliers,  from  the  strengthening  of  their 
purposes  and  the  crossing  of  their  blood,  came  he 
who  stands  as  the  first  typical  American,  the  first 
to  comprehend  within  himself  all  the  strength  and 
gentleness,  all  the  majesty  and  grace  of  this  Re- 
public, Abraham  Lincoln.  He  was  the  son  of 
Puritan  and  Cavalier,  for  in  his  ardent  nature 
were  fused  the  virtues  of  both,  and  in  the  depth 
of  his  great  soul  the  faults  of  both  were  lost. 
He  was  greater  than  Puritan,  greater  than  Cava- 
lier in  that  he  was  American.  Let  us  build  with 
reverent  hands  to  the  type  of  that  simple  but 
sublime  life  in  which  all  types  are  honored." 

— HENRY  W,  GRADY. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

OPPOSITB 
PAGE 

Lincoln  in  1856 Title 

Ervin  Chapman,  D.D.,  LL.D 4 

The  author  while  making  his  one  hundred  speeches  for  Lincoln's  first 

election  as  President 10 

The  badge  he  wore  in  parades  during  that  campaign 10 

The  ticket  he  voted  four  years  later 10 

Lincoln's  mother's  bible 30 

Cabin  in  which  Abraham  Lincoln  was  born 32 

Early  pursuit  of  knowledge 32 

Stephen  A.  Douglas 34 

Mrs.  Mary  Todd  Lincoln 36 

Tablecloth  presented  by  Mrs.  Lincoln 40 

Lincoln  in  1861 46 

Lincoln  and  detective  Pinkerton 50 

The  greatest  among  the  great 52 

Lincoln  at  Cooper  Institute 56 

Leonard  W.  Volk  and  his  busts  of  Lincoln  and  Douglas 60 

Bust  of  Lincoln,  made  by  Leonard  W.  Volk,  April,  1860 62 

Lincoln  in  1848 64 

First  picture  as  candidate  for  President 66 

Last  picture  of  President  Lincoln 66 

Abraham  Lincoln  in  1860,  soon  after  his  nomination 68 

Lincoln  in  1863,  a  few  days  before  he  delivered  the  Gettysburg  address . .     70 

Why  people  thought  Lincoln  homely 82 

Colonel  James  F.  Jaquess 84 

Abraham  Lincoln  in  1847,  pledging  Cleopas  Breckenridge  to  total  absti- 
nence    150 

Howard  H.  Russell,  D.D.,  LL.D 152 

President  Lincoln  and  his  Cabinet 228 

Facsimile  of  manuscript  by  R.  M.  Devens 230 

Lincoln  and  the  contrabands 248 

Hon.  James  M.  Ashley  of  Ohio 258 

Memories 274 

IS 


16  ILLUSTRATIONS 

OPPOSITE 
PAGE 

President  Lincoln  during  the  battle  of  Gettysburg 276 

Chief  Justice  Salmon  Portland  Chase 280 

Bible  on  which  Lincoln  took  oath  of  office 290 

Seal  of  the  Supreme  Court  affixed  to  the  bible  on  which  Lincoln  took  the 

oath  of  office  1861 292 

Discoveries  and  inventions,  being  facsimile  of  first  pages  of  the  lecture 

supposed  to  have  been  lost 303 

Father  Charles  Chiaiquy 328 

Hon.  James  F.  Wilson  of  Iowa 346 

N.  Bateman 350 

General  Daniel  E.  Sickles 386 

General  James  F.  Rusling 388 

General  Rusling's  certificate 390 

Col.  W.  O.  Stoddard 414 

President  Lincoln  and  family 426 

Horace  Greeley 440 

Rev.  Phineas  D.  Gurley,  D.D.,  President  Lincoln's  pastor,  and  the  New 

York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  Washington,  D.  C 500 

Bouquet  of  flowers  picked  and  presented  by  Abraham  Lincoln  at  the 

White  House 502 

Deathbed  of  Lincoln 504 

The  Village  Blacksmith.  This  engraving  hung  in  the  room  where  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  died 506 

Facsimile  letter  written  by  Lincoln  April  6,  1860 510 

As  seen  and  loved  abroad.  A  picture  woven  in  silk  in  Switzerland  in 

1865 522 

Henry  Ward  Beecher 536 

David  R.  Locke,  author  of  humorous  Nasby  writings  greatly  enjoyed  by 

President  Lincoln .  540 


s 


PART  I 


"The  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln  will  be  cher- 
ished, so  long  as  we  have  a  history,  as  one  of  the 
wisest,  purest  and  noblest  magistrates,  as  one 
of  the  greatest  benefactors  to  the  human  race, 
that  have  ever  lived.  ...  So  much  firmness 
with  such  gentleness  of  heart,  so  much  logical 
acuteness  with  such  almost  childlike  simplicity 
and  ingenuousness  of  nature,  so  much  candor  to 
weigh  the  wisdom  of  others,  with  so  much  tenacity 
to  retain  his  own  judgment,  were  rarely  before 
united  in  one  individual.  Never  was  such  vast 
political  power  placed  in  purer  hands ;  never  did 
a  heart  remain  more  humble  and  unsophisticated 
after  the  highest  prizes  of  earthly  ambition  had 
been  obtained." 

— J.  LOTHROP  MOTLEY. 


I 

LINCOLN— FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  was  well  born,  and  the  aus- 
picious conditions  into  which  he  came  at  his  birth 
were  prophetic  of  the  generous  favors  of  fortune 
during  all  his  life. 

ANCESTRY 

He  was  favored  in  the  two  lines  of  lineage  which  united  in 
his  wonderful  personality.  Both  of  those  ancestral  lines  were 
of  high-grade  and  each  possessed  qualities  for  which  he  was 
distinguished.  The  Lincoln  line  of  lineage  from  its  earliest 
history  moved  conspicuously  upon  a  high  plane,  never  lost, 
never  broken  and  never  joined  in  any  unfavorable  alliance. 

The  hardships  of  pushing  back  the  wooded  wilderness  and 
redeeming  the  virgin  soil  for  the  use  of  man;  the  dangers  of 
encounters  with  hostile  savages;  the  struggle  for  daily  bread, 
together  with  powerful  religious  influences,  served  to  keep 
that  line  of  lineage  upon  a  lofty  plane.  The  course  which  it 
followed  extended  from  the  Atlantic's  rocky  coast,  westward 
through  New  England  and  across  the  Alleghenies  and  the 
mountains  of  Virginia,  to  the  verdant  valleys  of  Kentucky — 
Abraham  Lincoln's  native  state.  And  the  dangers  and  hard- 
ships through  which  the  rugged  heroes  of  that  line  were  called 
to  pass,  were  calculated  to  produce  the  toughened  fibre  of 
Abraham  Lincoln's  giant  frame  and  his  superb  moral 
stamina. 

Soon  after  the  Lincolns  reached  Kentucky,  Abraham 
Lincoln — grandfather  of  the  great  President — was  shot  and 
instantly  killed  by  a  hostile  Indian.  This  tragedv  was  wit- 

n 


i8      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

nessed  by  his  youngest  son,  a  lad  of  but  six  years  of  age,  who 
was  with  his  father  at  the  time.  Two  older  sons,  who  had 
accompanied  their  father  to  his  work,  witnessed  the  tragedy 
from  a  distance,  and  knowing  that  the  attack  indicated  that 
other  savages  were  lurking  in  the  vicinity,  fled,  one  to  the 
nearby  cabin  for  his  rifle,  and  the  other  to  the  settlement  for 
help.  But  the  boy  kept  his  faithful  vigil  close  beside  his 
father's  lifeless  form. 

The  Indian,  as  he  approached  his  victim,  saw  the  lad; 
and  as  he  stooped  to  bear  him  as  a  trophy  to  his  fellow 
savages,  a  well-aimed  bullet  from  the  cabin  terminated  his 
life.  The  boy  thus  rescued  was  Thomas  Lincoln  who  became 
the  father  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  honored  ruler  and  saviour 
of  the  nation. 

Under  the  old  English  law  of  primogeniture,  which  was 
then  in  force  in  Kentucky,  the  large  estate  of  Thomas  Lin- 
coln's father  was  inherited  by  the  eldest  son;  and  Thomas 
became  dependent  upon  his  widowed  mother  who  was  unable 
to  contribute  adequately  to  his  needs.  Little  is  known  of  his 
life  until  he  became  a  man  and  found  employment  at  day 
labor  in  a  Kentucky  frontier  settlement. 

A  typical  frontiersman  was  Thomas  Lincoln,  of  stalwart 
form,  and  of  fine  qualities  of  heart  and  mind;  as  brave  and 
fearless  as  had  been  his  father ;  and  as  amiable  and  gentle  as 
was  his  mother.  He  was  tall  and  of  great  width  of  shoulders, 
with  neck,  chest  and  limbs  fitted  to  grapple  with  the  heavy 
tasks  of  the  timbered  wilderness,  and  subdue  it  into  beauty 
and  productiveness. 

By  common  consent  he  became  the  arbiter  of  difficulties 
among  his  neighbors,  for  he  was  ever  wise  and  fair  in  his 
judgments  and  fearless  and  effective  in  maintaining  the  ver- 
dicts he  so  frequently  was  called  upon  to  render.  These  qual- 
ities were  in  Thomas  Lincoln  united  with  a  childlike  piety 
and  humble  trust  in  God.  He  was  not  learned  in  scholarship 
or  books,  but  he  was  well  and  widely  educated  in  the  lessons 
of  early  pioneer  experience  and  in  Christian  faith  and  life, 


LINCOLN—FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE  19 

Judge  H.  C.  Whitney  tells  us  that,  "William  G.  Greene, 
who  spent  one  day  with  Thomas  Lincoln  and  felt  interested 
to  make  a  study  of  him,  avers  that  he  was  a  man  of  great 
native  reasoning  powers  and  fine  social  magnetism,  reminding 
him  of  his  illustrious  son.  He  describes  him  as  'very  stoutly 
built,  about  five  feet  ten  inches  high,  and  weighing  nearly  two 
hundred  pounds.'  His  desire  was  to  be  on  terms  of  amity 
and  sociability  with  every  one."1 

William  Eleroy  Curtis  has  this  to  say  of  him:  "He  must 
have  had  good  stuff  in  him,  for  when  he  was  twenty-five 
years  old  he  had  saved  enough  from  his  wages  to  buy  a  farm 
in  Hardin  county.  Local  tradition  represents  him  to  have  been 
'an  easy  going  man,  slow  to  anger,  but  when  aroused  a  formi- 
dable adversary.'  "2 

Mrs.  Caroline  Hanks  Hitchcock  says:  "He  had  been  forced 
from  his  boyhood  to  shift  for  himself  in  a  young  and  un- 
developed country.  He  is  known  to  have  been  a  man  who 
in  spite  of  this  wandering  life  contracted  no  bad  habits.  He 
was  temperate  and  honest,  and  his  name  is  recorded  in  more 
than  one  place  in  the  records  of  Kentucky.  He  was  a  church- 
goer, and  if  tradition  may  be  believed,  a  stout  defender  of 
his  peculiar  religious  views.  He  held  advanced  ideas  of  what 
was  already  an  important  public  question  in  Kentucky,  the 
right  to  hold  Negroes  as  slaves.  One  of  his  old  friends  has 
said  of  him  that  he  was  'just  steeped  full  of  notions  about 
the  wrongs  of  slavery  and  the  rights  of  men,  as  explained  by 
Thomas  Jefferson  and  Thomas  Paine.'  These  facts  show 
that  he  must  have  been  a  man  of  some  natural  intellectual 
attainment. 

"Considering  the  disadvantages  under  which  he  labored, 
he  had  a  very  good  start  in  life  when  he  became  engaged  to 
Nancy  Hanks.  He  had  a  trade  and  owned  a  farm  which  he 
had  bought  in  1803  in  Buffalo,  and  also  owned  land  in  Eliza- 
bethtown.  If  all  the  conditions  of  his  life  be  taken  into  con- 

1  Lincoln  the  Citizen,  pp.  6-10. 

2  The  True  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  18. 


20     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

sideration,  it  is  not  true,  as  has  been  said,  that  Thomas  Lin- 
coln was  at  this  time  a  shiftless  and  purposeless  man."3 

Indeed  in  every  needed  quality  Thomas  Lincoln  was  fitted 
to  become  the  father  of  the  one  who,  in  his  day,  was  both 
the  Moses  and  the  Joshua  to  deliver  an  enslaved  race  from  the 
house  of  bondage,  and  to  lead  them  into  the  land  of  promise. 
No  excesses  of  his  own,  or  of  his  ancestors,  mingled  weaken- 
ing poison  in  the  blood  which  flowed  throughout  his  stalwart 
frame.  He  possessed  qualities  of  body  and  mind  that  con- 
stitute the  richest  heritage  which  any  man  can  give  to  pos- 
terity. 

And  that  those  noble  qualities  might,  with  certainty,  be 
inherited  by  his  offspring,  it  was  provided  that  when  Thomas 
Lincoln  stood  at  the  hymeneal  altar,  Nancy  Hanks  should 
stand  beside  him,  and  then  and  there  plight  with  him  her 
solemn  marriage  troth.  She  was  his  superior  in  every  high 
quality.  In  charm  of  personality,  exuberance  of  spirits,  and 
deep  religious  experience  she  was  unequalled  in  all  that 
frontier  region.  She  was  of  worthy  and  distinguished  ances- 
try, extending  back  through  brave  and  brawny  pioneers  to  the 
famous  early  heroes  of  Virginia. 

"The  roots  of  the  husband's  ancestral  tree  reached  down 
to  Puritan  England,  and  on  the  part  of  the  wife,  to  the  days 
when  a  King  of  Britain  confronted  Imperial  Rome." 

Nicolay  and  Hay,  President  Lincoln's  private  secretaries, 
in  their  great  work,  write  of  Nancy  Hanks  as  she  appeared 
at  the  time  of  her  marriage,  as  follows:  "All  accounts  rep- 
resent her  as  a  handsome  young  woman  of  twenty-three,  of 
appearance  and  intellect  superior  to  her  lowly  fortunes.  She 
could  read  and  write,  a  remarkable  accomplishment  in  her 
circle,  and  even  taught  her  husband  to  form  the  letters  of  his 
name."4 

Noah  Brooks  says  of  Nancy  Hanks  that  she  "was  a 
woman  of  great  force  of  character  and  passionately  fond  of 

8  Nancy  Hanks,  pp.  56-58. 

*  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  I.,  p.  24. 


LINCOLN— FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE  21 

reading.  Every  book  on  which  she  could  lay  her  hands  was 
eagerly  read,  and  her  son  said,  years  afterwards,  that  his 
earliest  recollection  of  his  mother  was  of  his  sitting  at  her 
feet  with  his  sister,  drinking  in  the  tales  and  legends  that 
were  read  or  related  to  them,  by  the  house-mother."5 

No  man  in  public  life  stood  closer  to  President  Lincoln 
than  did  Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  Member  of  Congress  from 
Chicago,  who  has  this  to  say:  "Mrs.  Lincoln,  the  mother  of 
the  President,  is  said  to  have  been  in  her  youth,  a  woman  of 
beauty.  She  was  by  nature  refined,  and  of  far  more  than 
ordinary  intellect.  Her  friends  spoke  of  her  as  being  a  per- 
son of  marked  and  decided  character.  She  was  a  woman  of 
the  most  exemplary  character,  and  most  tenderly  and  affec- 
tionately devoted  to  her  family.  Her  home  indicated  a  de- 
gree of  taste  and  a  love  of  beauty  exceptional  in  the  wild  set- 
tlement in  which  she  lived. 

"But  in  spite  of  this  she  had  been  reared  where  the  very 
means  of  existence  were  to  be  obtaind  by  a  constant  struggle, 
and  she  learned  to  use  the  rifle  and  the  tools  of  the  backwoods 
farmer,  as  well  as  the  distaff,  the  cards  and  the  spinning 
wheel.  She  could  not  only  kill  the  wild  game  of  the  woods, 
but  she  could  also  dress  it,  make  of  the  skins  clothes  for  her 
family  and  prepare  the  flesh  for  food.  Hers  was  a  strong, 
self-reliant  spirit,  which  commanded  the  respect  as  well  as  the 
love  of  the  rugged  people  among  whom  she  lived."6 

Phebe  A.  Hanaford  says:  "Abraham  Lincoln's  mother, 
noble  and  blessed  woman,  was  his  inspiration.  She  was  deter- 
mined that  her  son  should  at  least  learn  to  read  his  Bible; 
and,  before  God  called  her  to  dwell  with  the  angels,  she  had 
the  satisfaction  of  seeing  him  read  the  volume  which  he  never 
afterwards  neglected.  Abraham's  mother  might  have  said,  as 
did  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  'From  henceforth  all  genera- 
tions shall  call  me  blessed';  and  while  this  generation  shall 
revere  the  name  and  memory  of  the  mother  of  George  Wash- 

6  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  6. 
6  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  19. 


22      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ington,  side  by  side  with  hers  will  it  write  the  name  of  the 
mother  of  Abraham  Lincoln."7 

Dr.  D.  D.  Thompson  says:  "Nancy  Hanks  is  described  as 
tall,  dark-haired,  comely,  dignified  and  winsome,  by  her  grace 
and  kindness.  She  seemed  at  times  as  if  looking  far  away, 
seeing  what  others  did  not  see.  She  had  attended  school  in 
Virginia,  and  stood  upon  a  higher  intellectual  plane  than  those 
around  her.  The  Bible  was  read  morning  and  evening,  and 
her  conduct  was  in  accordance  with  its  precepts.  She  was  on 
the  frontier,  where  few  books  were  to  be  had  to  satisfy  her 
thirst  for  knowledge,  and  where  there  was  little  intellectual 
culture.  She  was  wife,  mother  and  teacher.  .  .  .  On  Sun- 
days she  would  gather  her  children  around  her,  and  read  to 
them  the  wonderful  stories  in  the  Bible,  and  pray  with  them. 
After  he  had  become  President,  Abraham  Lincoln,  speaking 
of  his  mother,  said:  "I  remember  her  prayers,  and  they  have 
always  followed  me.  They  have  clung  to  me  all  my  life."8 

Dr.  L.  P.  Brockett  says:  "Nancy  Hanks  was  a  truly  noble 
woman,  as  her  son's  life  attested.  From  her  came  that  deep 
and  abiding  reverence  for  holy  things — that  profound  trust 
in  Providence  and  faith  in  the  triumph  of  truth — and  that 
gentleness  and  amiability  of  temper,  which,  in  the  lofty  sta- 
tion of  Chief  Magistrate,  he  displayed  so  strikingly  during 
years  of  most  appalling  responsibility.  From  her  he  derived 
the  spirit  of  humor  and  the  desire  to  see  others  happy,  which 
afterwards  formed  so  prominent  a  trait  in  his  character."9 

Dr.  John  G.  Holland,  one  of  America's  most  distinguished 
and  esteemed  authors,  says:  "Mrs.  Lincoln,  the  mother,  was 
evidently  a  woman  out  of  place  among  those  primitive  sur- 
roundings. A  great  man  never  drew  his  infant  life  from  a 
purer  or  more  womanly  bosom  than  her  own ;  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
always  looked  back  to  her  with  an  unspeakable  affection."10 

Charles  Carlton  Coffin,  an  able  journalist,  says:  "Nancy 
Hanks  Lincoln,  queenly  in  personal  appearance,  imperial  in 

7  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  15.      8  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  II. 

9  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  41.        10  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  23. 


LINCOLN— FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE  23 

her  aspirations,  attends  to  her  wifely  duties.  The  day  begins 
and  ends  with  religious  service.  The  cultured  wife  reads  the 
Bible  to  the  uncultured  husband.  His  lips  utter  the  prayer. 
The  horizon  of  her  life  was  wider  than  the  walls  of  her 
home.  .  .  .  Little  did  this  mother  know  how  deeply  her 
lessons  of  truth  and  virtue  went  down  into  the  heart  of  her 
listening  son;  how  in  the  fullness  of  time  the  germs  would 
put  forth  their  tender  shoots;  how  her  own  spirit  would  re- 
appear in  his,  and  the  beauty  of  her  soul  glorify  his  life."11 
With  characteristic  tenderness  and  beauty,  Mr.  Coffin 
further  says:  "Her  aspirations  were  far  different  from  those 
of  her  kind-hearted  husband.  She  heard  voices  which  he  could 
not  hear.  Her  discerning  eyes  beheld  what  he  would  never 
be  able  to  see.  The  world  will  never  know  the  greatness  of  its 
debt  to  her  for  doing  what  she  could  in  stamping  her  own 
lofty  conception  of  duty  and  obligation  upon  the  hearts  and 
consciences  of  her  children. 

"There  had  ever  been  loving  intimacy  and  sympathy  be- 
tween Mrs.  Lincoln  and  her  children.  She  had  discerned  what 
the  father  had  not  seen  in  their  boy,  a  nature  rich  and  rare; 
kindness  of  heart,  sympathy  with  suffering,  regard  for  what 
was  right,  impatience  with  wrong.  She  had  watched  the  un- 
folding of  his  intellect.  He  had  asked  questions  which  others 
of  his  age  did  not  ask.  She  knows  that  her  work  for  this  life 
is  ended.  Her  boy  stands  by  her  bedside. 

'  'I  am  going  away  from  you,  Abraham,  and  shall  not  re- 
turn. I  know  that  you  will  be  a  good  boy;  that  you  will  be 
kind  to  Sarah  and  to  your  father.  I  want  you  to  live  as  I  have 
taught  you,  and  to  love  your  heavenly  Father.'  Through  life 
he  will  hear  her  last  words.  In  the  full  vigor  of  manhood  he 
will  not  think  it  unmanly  to  say  with  tearful  eyes,  'All  that  I 
am,  all  that  I  hope  to  be,  I  owe  to  my  angel  mother.'  "12 

The  veteran  author,  Francis  Fisher  Browne,  beloved  by 
all  who  knew  him  and  by  all  who  have  read  his  works,  says: 
"The  tender  and  reverent  spirit  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  the 
11  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  20.  12  Ibid.,  pp.  27-28. 


24     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

pensive  melancholy  of  his  disposition,  he  no  doubt  inherited 
from  his  mother.  Amid  the  toil  and  struggle  of  her  busy  life 
she  found  time  not  only  to  teach  him  to  read  and  write  but  to 
impress  upon  him  ineffaceably  that  love  of  truth  and  justice, 
that  perfect  integrity  and  reverence  for  God,  for  which  he 
was  noted  all  his  life.  Lincoln  always  looked  upon  his  mother 
with  unspeakable  affection,  and  never  ceased  to  cherish  the 
memory  of  her  life  and  teaching."13 

The  following  excerpts  from  Mrs.  Hitchcock's  book  are  of 
special  interest  and  value: — 

"The  beautiful  Nancy  Hanks  seems  to  have  been  the  center 
and  leader  in  all  the  merry  country  parties.  Bright,  scintil- 
lating, noted  for  her  keen  wit  and  repartee,  she  had  withal 
a  loving  heart."14 

"Joseph  Hanks,  Nancy's  brother,  was  a  man  of  sterling 
honesty,  undoubted  courage  and  high  worth.  He  always 
spoke  of  his  angel  sister  Nancy  with  reverent  emotion."15 

"Simple  as  the  home  was,  and  hard  as  the  work  no  doubt 
was  at  times,  great  as  the  privations  may  have  been,  the  pic- 
ture we  have  of  Nancy  Hanks'  life  at  this  period  is  not  an  un- 
pleasant one.  Her  children  were  vigorous  and  happy,  and 
evidently  eager  to  learn.  She  had  the  joy  of  helping  them  and 
of  seeing  their  growth.  She  was  hospitable,  too,  and  many  an 
old  neighbor  has  left  reminiscences  of  visits  to  her  home,  one 
of  whom  said:  'The  Lincolns'  home  at  Knob  Creek  was  a 
very  happy  one.  I  have  lived  in  this  part  of  the  country  all 
my  life  and  knew  Nancy  Hanks  and  Thomas  Lincoln  well. 
She  was  a  loving  and  tender  wife,  adored  by  her  husband  and 
children,  as  she  was  by  all  who  knew  her.'  "16 

"Abraham  Lincoln  was  not  an  exception  to  the  rule  that 
great  men  require  that  their  mothers  should  be  talented."17 

The  marriage  of  Thomas  Lincoln  and  Nancy  Hanks,  as 
certified  by  official  records,  was  solemnized  by  the  Rev.  Jesse 

18  Everyday  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  5. 

14  Nancy  Hanks,  p.  51.  18  Nancy  Hanks,  pp.  89-90. 

15  Ibid.,  p.  92.  17  Ibid.,  p.  78. 


LINCOLN— FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE  25 

Head,  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  on  the 
1 2th  of  June,  1806,  at  the  home  of  Richard  Berry,  near 
Beachland,  in  Washington  County,  Kentucky,  and  on  the  I2th 
of  February,  1809,  Abraham  Lincoln,  their  second  child,  was 
born. 

No  one  in  all  that  frontier  region,  if  at  that  time  informed 
that  a  great  leader  was  soon  to  arise  from  among  them,  would 
have  thought  of  Thomas  and  Nancy  Lincoln  as  likely  to  be  his 
parents.  But  since  the  fame  of  their  son  has  filled  the  world, 
critics  admit  that  this  robust  woodsman  and  his  gifted  and 
spiritually-minded  wife  possessed  just  the  qualities  which 
shone  with  splendor  in  their  famous  son.  Fortune's  favorite 
indeed  was  Abraham  Lincoln  to  be  favored  by  such  parentage. 

But  into  this  garden  of  God's  own  planting,  into  this 
Paradise  of  connubial  felicity,  the  serpent  in  the  guise  of  lov- 
ing loyalty  entered  and  cast  its  breath  of  scandal  upon  the 
stainless  names  of  the  most  highly  favored  of  American 
mothers  and  sons. 

On  the  early  pages  of  his  biography  of  Lincoln,  Wm.  H. 
Herndon,  with  seeming  indifference  states  that  Lincoln  told 
him  that  his  mother,  Nancy  Hanks,  was  of  illegitimate  birth ; 
and  in  the  same  work  Mr.  Herndon  also  states  that  the  same 
was  true  of  Abraham  Lincoln  himself.  As  Herndon  had  been 
Lincoln's  law  partner  and  claimed  to  be  devoted  to  his  memory, 
his  statements  were  given  unquestioning  credence  by  the  pub- 
lic, and  were  accepted  as  true  and  given  wide  publicity  by 
many  writers.  But  the  relatives  and  friends  of  Lincoln  in 
Illinois,  and  in  other  portions  of  the  country,  at  once  and  with 
great  indignation  declared  the  Herndon  story  to  be  utterly  un- 
true, and  the  most  diligent  research  failed  to  find  any  founda- 
tion in  fact  or  justification  in  reputable  opinion  for  the  de- 
famatory statement. 

Yet,  in  1893,  five  years  after  this  untruthful  scandal  was 
first  published,  J.  J.  Morse,  Jr.,  after  characterizing  Herndon's 
statement  as  "more  of  malice  than  of  faith,"  repeats  it  as 
authentic  history,  with  grewsome  details  of  his  own  imagining, 


26     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

and  in  terms  far  more  revolting  than  are  those  employed  by 
Herndon.  And  in  other  publications  the  Herndon  story  contin- 
ued to  be  repeated  until  it  became  almost  generally  accepted  as 
true. 

In  1899  the  whole  Herndon  fabrication  was  unmasked  and 
proved  to  be  false  by  Mrs.  Caroline  Hanks  Hitchcock  of  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.  Turning  aside  from  the  important  work  in 
which  she  was  engaged,  Mrs.  Hitchcock  devoted  herself  with 
untiring  energy  to  the  task  of  research  in  all  the  regions 
from  which  the  Lincolns  and  the  Hankses  came.  With  un- 
flagging zeal  and  enthusiasm  she  patiently  searched  the  records 
of  counties,  churches  and  families  and  at  length  gave  to  the 
world  her  priceless  little  volume,  "Nancy  Hanks,"  in  which  are 
published  the  authentic  facts  regarding  the  Hanks  lineage,  the 
marriage  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  parents  and  the  birth  of  their 
children  as  found  in  the  official  public  records  and  documents 
of  unquestionable  authenticity.  The  value  of  Mrs.  Hitch- 
cock's contribution  to  the  history  of  American  pioneer  life  and 
especially  to  the  fascinating  story  of  Abraham  Lincoln  cannot 
be  overestimated.  Proving  as  it  does  that  the  revolting  Hern- 
don story  is  utterly  untrue  it  should  at  once  and  forever  silence 
that  harmful  fabrication. 

Notwithstanding  this,  however,  in  1906,  seven  years  after 
it  had  thus  been  proven  untrue,  that  story  reappears  in  an 
edition  of  Herndon's  work,  a  copy  of  which  now  lies  before 
me.  And  during  that  same  year  Henry  Binns,  in  a  well-written 
volume,  tells  the  true  story  of  the  birth  of  Nancy  Hanks  and  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  as  shown  by  Mrs.  Hitchcock  to  be  correct, 
and  then  in  a  footnote  on  the  same  page  refers  to  the  Appendix 
of  his  book  where  the  Herndon  story  is  reproduced  in  full. 
How  mysterious  is  the  fascination  which  that  Herndon  story 
has  for  some  people  even  after  they  know  it  is  utterly  untrue. 

In  an  introduction  to  Mrs.  Hitchcock's  book,  Miss  Ida  M. 
Tarbell  says:  "To  no  woman  whose  name  is  of  interest 
in  American  history  has  greater  injustice  been  done  by  biogra- 
phers than  to  Nancy  Hanks,  the  mother  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 


LINCOLN— FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE  27 

This  injustice  has  been  in  repeating  or  allowing  to  go  un- 
challenged, traditions  of  her  early  life  of  which  there  were  no 
proofs." 

But  that  cruel  "injustice"  to  the  name  and  memory  of 
the  sainted  Nancy  Hanks  has  continued,  by  the  credence  given 
to  the  Herndon  story  and  by  its  reproduction,  until  some  of  the 
most  devoted  admirers  of  Lincoln  are  even  yet  in  darkness 
relative  to  these  important  matters.  There  now  lies  before  me 
a  volume  which  has  been  the  most  helpful  of  all  the  hundreds 
of  Lincoln  books  I  have  read  while  preparing  this  work.  Its 
able  and  learned  author  in  his  great  work  discloses  an  admira- 
tion for  Lincoln  approaching  religious  adoration.  He  is  awed 
into  reverence  as  he  considers  the  material  and  spiritual  nature 
of  his  hero  whom  he  declares  to  be  "one  of  the  most  wonderful 
beings  that  has  appeared  upon  the  earth."  Yet  this  pure- 
minded  writer  speaks  of  Lincoln  as  "a  weird  and  mysterious 
being  who  came  into  the  world  against  convention."  My  heart 
sank  when  I  realized  the  meaning  and  significance  of  those 
two  words — "against  convention" — and  understood  that,  as 
objects  take  on  the  color  of  the  glass  through  which  the  sun- 
shine falls  upon  them,  so  the  mind  of  this  Lincoln  admirer 
had  received  the  story  of  his  hero's  parentage  through  a 
medium  stained  with  the  Herndon  scandal.  And  I  then  real- 
ized, as  never  before,  the  magnitude  of  the  task  of  making 
amends  for  the  shameful  injustice  which  has  been  done  the 
memory  of  our  martyred  President  and  his  godly  mother.  A 
good  beginning  in  that  work  has  been  made  in  Mrs.  Hitch- 
cock's book,  already  cited.  If  given  publicity  by  the  pulpit,  on 
the  platform,  in  the  schoolroom  and  by  the  press,  as  certainly 
should  be  the  case,  the  authentic  facts  as  laboriously  gathered 
and  published  by  this  talented  and  cultured  woman,  will  soon 
banish  the  Herndon  harmful  falsehoods  to  the  darkness  from 
which  they  came  and  to  the  oblivion  which  should  be  their 
doom. 

My  own  humble  part  in  this  work  of  restitution  I  have 
religiously  sought  to  perform  by  exposing  and  fittingly  charac- 


28      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

terizing  the  Herndon  falsehoods,  and  by  telling  the  true  story 
as  it  is  recorded  in  this  chapter.  I  crave  and  claim  the  co-oper- 
ation of  all  lovers  of  truth  in  aiding  to  give  widest  possible 
publicity  to  the  facts  herein  stated. 

PRENATAL  INFLUENCE 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  also  favored  by  prenatal  preparation 
for  his  great  earthly  mission.  Scientists  are  just  coming 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  wondrous  part  in  human  procreation 
which  the  Book  of  God  for  centuries  has  ascribed  to  woman. 
Respecting  this  subject  members  of  the  medical  profession  are 
not  in  perfect  accord.  Some  deny  'while  others  affirm  the 
theory  of  prenatal  influence. 

Dr.  George  Williamson  says:  "A  child  at  the  period  of  its 
first  independent  existence  represents  exactly  the  condition  of 
the  maternal  parent  during  the  months  of  nascency."18 

On  May  8th,  1913,  in  an  address  given  at  the  University 
of  Kansas,  Dr.  W.  H.  Carruth  said:  "It  is  plain  that  pre- 
natal influences  belong  at  the  bottom  to  the  same  field  as  post- 
natal influences.  .  .  .  The  temper  of  a  colt  or  child  can  be 
affected  by  the  way  the  mother  is  handled  before  the  young  is 
born.  All  this  has  not  been  recognized  fully  and  clearly,  but 
Ibelieve  it  is  undisputed  today."19 

In  Bible  history  are  many  illustrations  of  prenatal  in- 
fluence. Moses,  the  greatest  of  all  lawgivers,  was  born  of 
slave  parents  in  the  depths  of  cruel  and  degrading  bondage, 
and  at  a  time  when  by  royal  edict  all  male  children  were 
ordered  to  be  slain.  But  his  mother  by  her  calm  confidence  in 
God  during  the  months  immediately  preceding  his  birth  suc- 
ceeded in  giving  to  her  son  a  nature  so  exalted  and  purposeful 
that  the  attractions  of  the  court  of  Pharaoh  and  his  adoption 
into  the  family  of  that  famous  sovereign,  did  not  lure  him 
from  his  allegiance  to  Jehovah,  nor  cause  him  to  be  unfaith- 

18  Laws  of  Heredity,  p.  219. 

19  Eugenics,  Twelve  University  Lectures,  p.  283. 


LINCOLN— FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE  29 

ful  to  his  chosen  people.  His  forty  years'  seclusion  in  the 
dreary  regions  of  Mount  Horeb  failed  to  diminish  his  fidelity 
to  God  or  to  weaken  his  faith  in  His  promises.  No  leader  ever 
was  tried  more  severely  than  was  he  and  none  ever  proved 
more  constant  and  true.  Considered  in  connection  with  the 
circumstances  of  his  birth,  Moses  is  a  striking  illustration  of 
the  power  of  prenatal  influence,  and  a  motherhood  like  that 
which  produced  this  great  man,  if  environment  is  not  pro- 
nouncedly unfavorable,  will  enrich  the  world  by  contributions 
of  exalted  human  qualities  in  posterity. 

The  marvelous  fidelity  of  Jeremiah  during  a  period  of 
darkness  and  despair,  when  kings  were  false  and  enemies 
were  victorious,  is  explained  by  Jehovah's  declaration:  "Before 
thou  earnest  forth  out  of  the  womb,  I  sanctified  thee."20  Such 
prenatal  influence  can  be  secured  in  any  age  and  cannot  fail  to 
result  as  in  the  case  of  this  great  Hebrew  prophet. 

Elizabeth,  the  mother  of  John  the  Baptist,  when  informed 
that  her  devout  life  was  to  be  crowned  with  motherhood,  re- 
tired to  the  seclusion  of  the  hills  of  Judah,  and  there  for 
months  quietly  communed  with  God  and  "was  filled  with  the 
Holy  Ghost."21  Therefore,  it  is  said  of  her  son  that  he  was 
"filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost  even  from  his  mother's  womb."22 

Ishmael  was  a  calamitous  product  of  prenatal  influence. 
His  father  was  a  man  of  the  most  exalted  nature,  a  model  for 
every  age,  in  character,  fidelity  and  faith.  But  his  mother 
was  a  hot-blooded  Egyptian  woman  who,  by  indulging  in 
bitterness  of  spirit  and  furious  resentment  during  her  period 
of  expectancy  gave  to  this  son  of  Abraham  a  nature  which 
caused  him  to  be  "a  wild  ass  among  men"  with  "his  hand 
against  every  man  and  every  man's  hand  against  him." 

In  striking  contrast  with  the  story  of  Hagar  and  Ishmael, 
so  full  of  solemn  warning,  is  the  fascinating  story  of  Hannah 
and  her  son  Samuel,  the  most  beloved  and  influential  of  all 
the  Hebrew  priests  and  prophets.  Hannah's  eager  yearning 
for  motherhood  and  her  fervent  prayer  in  the  sacred  taber- 
20  Jer.  1 : 15.  21  Luke  1 : 41.  22  Luke  1 : 15. 


30      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

nacle  for  "a  male  child"  whom  she  promised  to  consecrate  to 
the  service  of  God's  house,  indicate  her  high  plane  of  woman- 
hood. And  such  a  woman  was  Nancy  Hanks  Lincoln,  the 

"Wilding  lady  still  and  true 
Who  gave  us  Lincoln  and  never  knew." 

As  already  shown  she  was  a  devout  and  unusually  spirit- 
ually-minded Christian.  During  fragments  of  time  snatched 
from  pressing  family  cares  and  duties  she  diligently  read 
the  Word  of  God  and  kept  in  close  and  constant  fellowship 
with  Him  by  devout  and  earnest  prayer.  And  Mr.  Lincoln's 
acknowledgment  of  his  conscious  indebtedness  to  her  for  all 
he  was  and  all  he  hoped  to  be  was  a  fitting  tribute  to  the  one 
whom  the  world  is  coming  to  understand  and  appreciate  at  her 
true  worth. 

As  were  Jochebed,  Hannah  and  Elizabeth,  as  were  count- 
less other  women  who  became  the  mothers  of  noble  men,  so 
Nancy  Hanks  was  fitted  in  body,  soul  and  spirit  to  become 
the  mother  of  one  endowed  with  transcendent  gifts  and  exalted 
character  as  was  Abraham  Lincoln. 

During  the  months  preceding  the  birth  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln his  mother's  environment  was  such  as  an  expectant 
mother  should  always  have.  There  was  no  domestic  discord 
in  the  Lincoln  cabin  to  inflict  a  contentious  spirit  upon  the 
coming  child.  Music  and  merriment  had  their  rightful  place 
in  this  pioneer  household  and  the  industrious  wife,  conscious 
of  her  high  estate,  faithfully  attended  to  her  daily  duties  with 
cheerfulness  and  joy. 

Some  regard  the  advent  of  Abraham  Lincoln  upon  the 
scene  of  human  action  as  something  "outside  the  chain  of 
natural  cause  and  effect,"  and  as  implying  an  unfathomable 
mystery.  This,  if  true,  would  deprive  us  of  the  lessons  to 
be  learned  from  the  story  of  his  birth,  his  character  and  life. 
He  furnishes  a  striking  illustration  of  the  possibilities  of  an 
earthly  life  at  its  best,  and  he  stands  before  the  world  as  the 
living  embodiment  of  what  God  can  accomplish  through  His 


LINCOLN— FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE  31 

children  if  permitted  to  have  His  way.  Nowhere  in  history 
can  there  be  found  the  story  of  a  human  life  which  more 
clearly  and  effectively  illustrates  the  potency  of  prenatal  in- 
fluence than  does  that  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  his  mother. 
There  never  has  been,  nor  will  there  ever  be,  another  Abraham 
Lincoln.  But  there  may  and  will  be  many  others  much  like 
him  if  the  lessons  taught  by  his  birth  and  character  are 
learned  and  duly  heeded  by  those  for  whom  he  lived  and  died. 

A  FORTUNATE  BEGINNING 

The  conditions  into  which  Abraham  Lincoln  entered  at  his 
birth  were  in  every  particular  favorable.  His  parents  were 
poor  in  worldly  goods,  but  they  were  rich  in  the  love  and 
loving  kindness  which  they  lavishly  bestowed  upon  him. 
Above  all  possible  estimate  it  was  fortunate  for  Abraham 
Lincoln,  for  the  nation,  and  for  all  the  world  that  he  began 
life  in  such  an  atmosphere  of  peace  as  was  that  which  filled 
the  humble  habitation  of  his  early  days.  Between  his  devoted 
parents  there  was  an  affinity  of  spirit  and  a  constancy  of  love 
and  tenderness  which  in  spite  of  seeming  inhospitable  con- 
ditions kept  the  infant's  better  nature  always  in  comfort  and 
content.  Some,  in  considering  this  scene,  think  only  of  the 
earthen  floor  and  the  scant  rough  furniture;  but  during  those 
initial  hours  a  higher  power  was  ministering  to  this  child  of 
poverty  with  a  skill  which  human  hands  have  never  known. 

True,  there  was  physical  discomfort  in  that  cabin,  but  it 
made  for  sturdy  growth  of  mind  and  body,  and  for  the 
development  of  trust  in  things  unseen.  As  the  oak  is  tough- 
ened and  made  more  fit  for  service  by  the  cold  blasts  that  beat 
against  it  with  pitiless  severity,  so  Abraham  Lincoln  was  aided 
to  become  staunch  and  strong  by  the  rigor  of  his  early  life. 

Near  the  cot  on  which  the  infant  slept  was  his  mother's 
Bible  with  the  truths  of  which  she  was  thoroughly  familiar, 
and  his  childhood's  first  lessons  from  his  mother's  lips  were 
the  teachings  of  that  Book.  Thoroughly  and  well  he  learned 
those  lessons  for  they  were  taught  with  fervency  of  soul  by 


32      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

one  who  loved  the  sacred  volume,  and  so  effective  was  her 
work  that  before  he  learned  to  read  the  child  knew  from 
memory  the  pages  she  had  read  to  him.  His  father  heartily  en- 
couraged the  mother's  efforts  to  teach  her  children  religious 
truth,  for  though  he  was  untaught  by  books  and  schools, 
Thomas  Lincoln  was  a  devout  Christian.  Prayer  and  Bible 
study  were  united  in  this  home  and  the  growing  lad,  under 
such  tuition,  grew  in  moral  stature  and  strength  even  more 
rapidly  than  he  gained  in  physical  proportions  and  agility. 

Some  have  claimed  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  early  life  was  full 
of  hindering  disadvantages  in  spite  of  which  he  achieved 
greatness  by  his  own  supreme  and  persevering  efforts.  His 
biographers,  who  were  his  private  secretaries  during  all  his 
Presidency,  give  the  following  interesting  sidelight  in  con- 
nection with  their  record  of  his  early  pursuit  of  knowledge: 
"He  could  not  afford  to  waste  paper  upon  his  original  com- 
positions. He  would  sit  by  the  fire  at  night  and  cover  the 
wooden  shovel  with  essays  and  arithmetical  exercises,  which  he 
would  shave  off  and  then  begin  again.  It  is  touching  to  think 
of  this  great  spirited  child  battling  year  after  year  against  his 
evil  star,  wasting  his  ingenuity  upon  devices  and  makeshifts, 
his  intelligence  starving  for  want  of  the  simple  appliances  of 
education  that  are  now  offered  gratis  to  the  poorest  and  most 
indifferent."23 

This  passage  undoubtedly  represents  the  prevailing  thought 
respecting  the  hardships  in  Lincoln's  early  life.  But  there  was 
no  hiatus  in  the  plans  for  Abraham  Lincoln's  development  and 
training.  The  obstacles  he  encountered  were  stepping  stones 
which,  when  surmounted,  raised  him  to  a  higher  level,  and  by 
stimulating  to  greater  efforts,  accomplished  in  him  great  results 
in  soul  expansion  and  development  of  mind  and  body.  Mr. 
Lincoln's  poise  of  character,  which  has  ever  been  the  marvel 
of  the  world,  was  largely  the  product  of  his  early  struggles 
with  the  limitations  of  his  lot,  and  his  patient  perseverance  in 
turning  to  his  advantage  the  most  stubborn  difficulties. 
23  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  35-36. 


CABIN   IN   WHICH   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN   WAS   BORN 


EARLY   PURSUIT   OF  KNOWLEDGE 


LINCOLN— FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE  33 

It  is  interesting  and  pleasing  to  think  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
as  winning  great  distinction  by  his  own  endeavors  in  spite 
of  serious  disadvantages;  but  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that 
a  higher  Power  participated  in  his  development,  and  that  the 
hardships  and  hindrances  of  his  early  and  later  life  were 
parts  of  the  work  of  preparing  in  him  a  hero  of  gigantic  phys- 
ical proportions,  with  brain  of  massive  measurements,  brawn 
of  giant  strength,  and  will  of  adamant. 

President  Lincoln's  secretaries  touch  the  core  of  the  mat- 
ter in  the  statement  that,  "He  was  evidently  of  better  and 
finer  clay  than  his  fellows  even  in  those  wild  and  ignorant 
days."  Unquestionably  he  was.  And  that  clay  which  without 
doubt  had  been  brought  into  its  primal  form  under  favorable 
influences  was  afterwards  beaten  by  adversity  into  greater 
purity  and  fitness  for  use,  as  a  potter  prepares  choice  material 
for  a  vessel  of  surpassing  excellence.  The  blows  seem  cruel 
but  they  are  really  beneficent  for  they  achieve  the  desired 
result.  It  is  safe  to  assume  that  no  lesson  written  with  char- 
coal on  a  wooden  shovel,  and  removed  the  next  evening  to 
prepare  for  another,  was  ever  forgotten  by  this  earnest 
student.  And  that  seeming  slow  advance  in  learning  thus  at- 
tained was  more  rapid  than  it  appeared,  and  was  attended  by  a 
mental  discipline  rarely  secured  by  less  taxing  methods  and 
endeavors.  Therefore,  it  is  no  disparagement  of  our  educa- 
tional agencies  to  claim  that  Abraham  Lincoln's  disadvantages 
are  to  be  numbered  among  the  priceless  assets  of  which  he  was 
the  beneficiary. 

In  these  claims,  so  at  variance  with  the  ordinary  views 
concerning  Mr.  Lincoln's  early  life,  I  am  glad  for  the  en- 
dorsement of  the  Hon.  John  D.  Long,  who  aptly  remarks: 
"There  are  those  who  express  surprise  that  Lincoln  was  the 
product  of  what  they  deem  the  narrow  and  scanty  environment 
from  which  he  sprang.  As  well  wonder  at  the  giant  of  the 
forest,  deep  rooted,  bathing  its  top  in  the  upper  air,  fearless 
of  scorch  of  sun  or  blast  of  tempest,  sprung  from  the  fertile 
soil  and  luxuriant  growth  of  the  virgin  earth,  and  rich  with 


34      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  fragrance  and  glory  of  Nature's  paradise.  I  can  hardly 
think  of  a  life  more  fortunate.  .  .  .  Where  can  be  found  a 
better  preparation  for  an  American  career.  To  what  one  of 
those  whom  we  call  the  favored  youths  of  the  land  have  not 
his  splendid  advantages  of  social  position  and  university  edu- 
cation sometimes  seemed  an  obstacle  rather  than  a  help  in  the 
path  that  leads  through  the  popular  hedge  to  the  popular  ser- 
vice ?  Hard  lines !  Lincoln's  is  rather  one  of  the  illustriously 
fortunate  careers  of  young  men."24 

Another,  and  not  the  least  of  the  great  favors  bestowed 
upon  Abraham  Lincoln  was  his  association  with 

STRONG  FRIENDS  AND  FOES 

During  the  period  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  coming  into 
prominence,  Illinois  had  in  its  political  arena  a  large  number 
of  brilliant  and  promising  young  men.  Some  were  just  coming 
into  distinction  when  death  ended  their  careers  of  usefulness ; 
others  like  Edward  Baker,  Mr.  Lincoln's  cherished  and  trusted 
friend,  removed  to  other  fields,  but  a  larger  group  consisting 
among  others  of  Douglas,  Washburne,  Stuart,  Stephen  Logan, 
Davis,  Wentworth,  Arnold,  Gillespie,  Trumbull,  Shields,  and 
Bryant  remained  arousing  him  to  the  herculean  efforts  which 
presaged  and  hastened  his  future  masterful  ability  and  great 
influence.  Lincoln  and  Douglas  from  the  start  were  in 
political  hostility.  Without  his  contests  with  the  "Little 
Giant,"  Lincoln  would  not  have  reached  the  proportions  he 
attained  or  the  prominence  to  which  he  rose.  Those  who  wit- 
nessed the  titanic  struggles  between  those  two  political  gladia- 
tors soon  discovered  that  from  each  encounter  Mr.  Lincoln  re- 
tired with  head  more  confidently  lifted,  and  with  a  greater 
manifest  disproportion  between  himself  and  his  great  antag- 
onist. 

And  this  continued  until  the  day  when  Douglas,  with 
grace  and  dignity  held  his  rival's  hat,  and  listened  with  ap- 
proving smiles  and  nods  to  his  courageous  and  masterly  in- 
24  Abraham  Lincoln,  The  Tribute  of  a  Century,  pp.  319-322. 


STEPHEN   A.    DOUGLAS 


LINCOLN— FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE  35 

augural  address.*  And  the  helpful  influence  of  Douglas 
continued  during  the  early  months  of  Lincoln's  Presidency 
and  until  his  lamented  death  on  the  3rd  of  June,  1861,  closed 
their  earthly  fellowship. 

Douglas,  with  his  great  ability,  high  ambition,  magnetic 
personality,  and  tireless  energy  and  industry  was  the  most 
helpful  opponent  with  which  kind  Providence  favored  Abra- 
ham Lincoln. 

Some  whom  I  have  named  above,  and  others  of  equal 
merit,  formed  a  group  with  whom  it  was  a  priceless  favor  to 
be  associated.  Some  were  Mr.  Lincoln's  political  antagonists, 
others  were  devoted  friends,  and  all  either  by  rivalry  or  en- 
couragement, stimulated  his  vigorous  and  growing  powers  to 
the  endeavors  which  brought  success. 

It  was  peculiarly  fortunate  that  at  the  opportune  period  of 
his  life  his  lot  was  cast  with  such  a  company  of  able  associates 
and  antagonists. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  favored  of  fortune  in 

THE  WOMAN  WHO  BECAME  HIS  WIFE 

Only  a  woman  of  tremendous  force  of  character,  superior 
intellectual  gifts  and  attainments,  and  peculiarly  fitted  for  her 
delicate  task,  could  successfully  have  assisted  him  to  prepare 
for  and  to  accomplish  his  great  work.  From  his  native  state, 
came  just  the  wife  he  needed  in  the  person  of  vivacious  Mary 

*  Respecting  this  incident  there  has  been  some  question  which  is  con- 
clusively settled  by  Colonel  Henry  Watterson  of  Kentucky,  who  was  a 
member  of  Congress  at  the  time  and  was  one  of  the  committee  appointed 
to  escort  the  new  President  to  the  place  of  inauguration.  In  his  famous 
lecture,  "Abraham  Lincoln,  Man  inspired  of  God,"  Colonel  Watterson 
says: 

"I  accompanied  the  cortege  that  passed  from  the  Senate  Chamber  to 
the  vast  portico  of  the  capitol,  and,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  removed  his  hat  to 
face  the  vast  multitude  in  front  and  below,  I  extended  my  hand  to  re- 
ceive it,  but  Judge  Douglas,  just  beside  me,  reached  over  my  outstretched 
arm  and  took  the  hat,  holding  it  throughout  the  delivery  of  the  inaugural 
address."  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  III.,  p.  XX. 


36      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Todd,  a  woman  of  proud  and  noble  lineage,  extending  back 
through  many  generations  distinguished  for  the  high  qualities 
of  their  robust  and  rugged  men  and  women.  She  was  high- 
spirited,  proud  and  ambitious,  of  charming  personality,  and 
of  great  force  of  character. 

She  had  received  excellent  educational  culture  and  train- 
ing, and  was  in  every  way  fitted  for  helpful  companionship 
with  a  man  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  tastes  and  talents.  Her  affections 
were  ardent,  and  she  was  passionately  devoted  to  her  family 
and  to  her  personal  friends.  With  unwavering  confidence  she 
believed  in  her  husband  and  foresaw  for  him  a  distinguished 
career  long  before  others  recognized  his  worth.  Her  talents 
and  temperament  were  the  exact  complement  of  her  husband's, 
and  aided  him  to  develop  a  strong  and  forceful  personality. 

Her  high  ambition  and  unconquerable  will  assisted  in  hold- 
ing him  to  his  tasks  in  spite  of  difficulties  and  discouragements, 
before  which,  without  her  aid,  even  his  tenacious  nature  might 
have  faltered  and  failed. 

His  prolonged  meditations  upon  the  evils  of  slavery,  and 
his  realization  of  the  strength  with  which  it  was  entrenched, 
and  the  vigor  and  determination  with  which  it  was  and  would 
continue  to  be  defended,  caused  him  seasons  of  painful  melan- 
choly verging  on  despondency;  but  her  exuberance  of  spirits 
came  to  his  relief  at  all  such  times  of  need  and  kept  him  firm 
in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  confident  of  ultimate  victory. 

In  his  quiet  quest  for  a  satisfying  religious  faith,  he  was 
encouraged  and  aided  by  her  keen  spiritual  insight  and  Chris- 
tian experience  and  life.  She  was  always  by  his  side  at  public 
religious  services,  thus  expressing  her  sympathy  and  fellowship 
with  him  in  the  unquestioning  confidence  in  God  and  firm  pur- 
pose to  do  His  will  for  which  he  was  so  distinguished. 

The  assertion  of  her  rightful  authority,  if  at  times  seem- 
ingly imperious  and  severe;  her  insistence  upon  the  strict 
observance  of  the  amenities  of  life;  and  her  pronounced  dis- 
pleasure at  anything  which  met  her  disapproval,  were  doubt- 
less very  helpful  in  making  Mr.  Lincoln  the  courteous  gentle- 


MRS.    MARY   TODD  LINCOLN 


LINCOLN— FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE  37 

man  he  became,  and  in  giving  him  his  remarkable  mental  and 
moral  poise. 

To  fill  acceptably  the  station  of  First  Lady  of  the  Land, 
Mrs.  Lincoln  encountered  greater  difficulties  than  had  any  who 
preceded  her  in  that  position.  Being  of  southern  blood,  birth 
and  education,  and  having  several  relatives  in  the  Confederate 
Army,  she  encountered  the  spirit  of  intolerance  which  pre- 
vailed at  Washington  during  the  Rebellion.  With  many  it 
seemed  impossible  to  regard  and  treat  with  common  justice 
those  whom  they  suspected  were  less  intense  than  themselves 
in  loyalty  to  the  Union  cause.  This  led  to  serious  misrepre- 
sentations, and  even  to  the  circulation  of  falsehoods  respecting 
Mrs.  Lincoln's  attitude  toward  the  war. 

Owing  to  the  dangers  which  constantly  threatened  the 
nation,  and  the  measureless  suffering  and  sorrow  resulting 
from  the  war,  there  were  few  social  functions  held  at  the 
Executive  Mansion  during  Mr.  Lincoln's  Presidency;  there- 
fore, Mrs.  Lincoln  was  not  afforded  the  opportunity  to  win 
for  herself  the  social  distinction  which  she  was  so  admirably 
fitted  to  achieve  and  hold. 

Had  conditions  been  normal  during  the  Presidency  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  his  brilliant  and  accomplished  wife  would 
have  won  from  all  the  admiration  and  praise  which  those  who 
knew  her  intimately  freely  bestowed.  However,  the  serious 
conditions  caused  by  the  war  which  closed  to  Mrs.  Lincoln  the 
door  of  social  distinction,  opened  to  her  a  door  into  the  realm 
of  loving  ministration  which  she  gladly  entered,  and  in  which, 
with  generous  heart  and  bountiful  beneficence,  she  wrought  for 
sick  and  wounded,  in  hospitals  and  in  military  camps. 

The  love  which  Mr.  Lincoln  cherished  for  his  wife,  and 
his  appreciation  of  her  high  ambitions,  and  helpful  ministra- 
tions, were  indicated  by  the  promptness  with  which,  when  in- 
formed by  wire  of  his  first  nomination  as  a  candidate  for 
President,  he  turned  from  enthusiastic  friends,  and  hastened  to 
his  Springfield  home  to  be  the  first  to  inform  her  of  the  great 
honor  which  had  been  conferred  upon  him. 


38     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Of  like  significance  was  his  wired  request  for  her  to  wit- 
ness with  him  the  closing  scenes  of  the  Rebellion.  And  his 
beloved  and  devoted  wife  was  the  only  one  invited  by  the 
happy  Chieftain  to  join  him  in  a  restful  ride  on  the  last  day  of 
his  earthly  life.  With  unspeakable  delight  at  the  prospect  of 
early  and  abiding  peace,  on  that  glad  day  he  disclosed  to  her,  as 
he  did  to  no  one  else,  his  fond  hopes  and  purposes  for  the 
years  that  should  follow  the  close  of  his  Presidential  term. 
And  the  tragedy  which  a  few  hours  later  snatched  him  from 
her  side,  failed  to  break  the  bond  by  which  their  souls  were 
held  in  union.  For  with  that  love  which  only  ardent  natures 
know  she  kept  her  vigil  close  beside  him,  even  when  her  heart 
was  breaking  with  anguish,  and  her  reason  was  almost  de- 
throned. And  when  informed  that  he  had  gone,  her  intense 
nature  found  expression  in  her  memorable  words,  "Taken 
from  us  at  the  time  the  country  needs  him  more  than  ever 
before." 

I  have  seen  them  side  by  side  at  public  worship;  I  have 
seen  them  close  together  at  the  White  House,  and  I  always 
think  of  them  as  evermore  inseparable  in  the  felicity  and 
fellowship  of  Heaven,  as  they  were  in  their  struggles  and 
achievements  here  below. 

The  world  will  never  know  the  full  extent  of  its  indebted- 
ness to  Mary  Todd  Lincoln  for  what  Abraham  Lincoln  was, 
and  for  what  he  was  permitted  to  accomplish.  Neither  with- 
out the  other  was,  or  ever  could  have  been,  complete.  The 
work  which  he  achieved  was  hers  as  well  as  his,  since  by  their 
union  that  work  was  made  possible.  And  hers  should  be  the 
love  and  gratitude  which  the  nation  gladly  gives  to  its  most 
worthy  benefactors. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  favored  in  the 

GOSPEL  MINISTERS 

who  came  into  his  life.     There  were  many  such,  some  of 
whom  deserve  special  mention,  for  at  most  auspicious  times, 


LINCOLN— FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE  39 

and  by  wisely  chosen  methods  they  gave  him  welcome  and 
helpful  religious  counsel  and  instruction. 

A  gospel  minister  suited  to  his  needs  came  into  his  life  at 
the  time  Edward,  his  second  son,  was  called  away  by  death. 
No  ordinary  preacher  could  have  found  admittance  to  the  inner 
realm  where  this  stricken  father  wept  in  great  sorrow.  It 
required  a  man  of  high  intellectual  endowment,  thorough  edu- 
cation and  deep  human  sympathy,  a  man  whose  heart  was  ten- 
der and  loving,  successfully  to  minister  to  Mr.  Lincoln  in 
spiritual  things  and  to  bring  consolation  to  his  wounded  heart 
at  that  time  of  sore  bereavement.  Such  a  man  was  Rev. 
James  Smith,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Springfield,  one  of  the  most  esteemed,  beloved  and  trusted 
of  all  the  gospel  ministers  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  knew. 

There  was  a  time  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  life  when  he  sorely 
needed,  though  he  was  then  unconscious  of  that  need,  a  "son 
of  thunder,"  to  proclaim  to  him  the  gospel  of  salvation  with 
tremendous  eloquence  and  power,  and  to  cause  him  to  realize 
his  need  of  spiritual  regeneration.  Such  a  Boanerages  was 
Rev.  James  F.  Jaquess,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  Springfield,  with  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  came 
in  contact  in  the  prime  of  his  growing  manhood.  Dr.  Jaquess' 
great  courage  and  manifest  sincerity  won  Mr.  Lincoln's  high 
esteem,  and  by  his  burning  eloquence  the  rising  young  attorney 
was  deeply  moved  and  edified. 

Very  helpful  to  Mr.  Lincoln  likewise  was  the  influence  of 
Rev.  N.  W.  Miner,  D.D.,  a  Springfield  Baptist  minister,  and 
for  many  years  one  of  the  intimate  friends  of  the  Lincoln 
family. 

Brief,  but  of  great  influence  for  good,  was  the  visit  at 
the  White  House  of  Dr.  Francis  Vinton,  rector  of  Christ 
Church  in  New  York  City.  He  was  a  man  of  extraordinary 
personality  and  one  of  the  most  popular  preachers  of  the 
Church  in  which  he  had  long  served  as  a  rector  and  in  which 
he  once  declined  a  bishopric.  Soon  after  the  death  of  "Willie," 
Mr.  Lincoln's  third  son,  Dr.  Vinton,  by  invitation,  had  an 


40      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

interview  with  the  disconsolate  President  and  aided  him  to 
realize  the  continued  life  of  those  who  pass  before  us  to  the 
better  world.  No  spiritual  adviser  of  the  President  ever  heard 
from  him  such  utterances  of  joy  as  did  this  sympathetic  and 
heavenly-minded  rector  during  this  interview. 

It  was  fortunate  that  President  Lincoln  secured  a  pew 
in  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  of  which  Rev. 
P.  D.  Gurley,  D.D.,  was  the  pastor !  Two  great  men  met  when 
the  President  and  his  pastor  clasped  hands  in  friendly  greet- 
ing. A  man  of  large  proportions  physically  and  otherwise 
was  Dr.  Gurley,  and  the  President  soon  discovered  that  he 
had  in  him  a  counsellor  adapted  to  his  needs.  Dr.  Gurley's 
great  strength  in  discourse,  his  faithful  teaching  of  the  simple 
gospel  truths,  his  occasional  excursions  into  the  realm  of 
metaphysics,  and  the  prominence  given  in  his  preaching  to  the 
sovereignty  of  God  enabled  him  to  give  just  what  Mr. 
Lincoln  needed  at  the  time.  Probably  no  one  was  more 
frequently  called  into  counsel  concerning  great  governmental 
issues  and  movements  than  was  the  President's  beloved  pastor 
Dr.  Gurley;  and  he  came  to  know  the  mind  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
as  few  men  did. 

In  his  quest  for  infallible  divine  truth  he  was  favored 
with 

A  PERIOD  OF  DOUBT 

Those  who  have  claimed  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  an  un- 
believer have,  by  so  doing,  unwittingly  helped  to  convince 
thoughtful  and  candid  persons  that  his  was  an  intelligent  faith, 
firmer  and  securer  after  doubt  and  investigation  than  before. 
A  man  like  Abraham  Lincoln  could  scarcely  be  expected  to 
come  to  an  intelligent,  satisfying  religious  faith  without  a 
period  of  doubt.  By  temperament  he  was  a  logician;  he  rev- 
elled in  the  higher  mathematics  and  was  at  home  in  studies 
requiring  a  major  and  minor  premise  for  a  satisfactory  con- 
clusion. 

Such  men  as  he  always  pursue  the  path  of  honest  inquiry 


Tablecloth  now  in  author's  collection. 


LINCOLN— FORTUNE'S  FAVORITE  41 

with  apprehension  of  disappointing  unbelief ;  but  their  honest 
quest  for  truth  adds  to  the  strength  of  final  faith.  The  eye 
that  sees  the  pole  star  of  truth  in  the  murkiest  skies  has  been 
trained  and  developed  in  the  darkness  of  unbelief,  and  the 
ability  thus  clearly  to  see  and  believe  the  truth  is  produced  by 
persevering  efforts  to  escape  from  doubt. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  staunch  believers 
usually  pass  through  a  period  of  doubt  before  reaching  a 
strong  and  settled  faith.  Christian  faith  is  belief  in  the  super- 
natural and  it  lays  hold  upon,  and  trusts  in  that  which  is  un- 
seen; it  rests  on  that  which  eludes  all  senuous  cognition. 
"Whom  having  not  seen  we  love ;  in  whom  though  now  ye  see 
him  not  yet  believing  ye  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full 
of  glory/'25  With  persons  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  temperament  it  is 
difficult  to  exercise  such  faith. 

With  some  a  period  of  doubt  is  inevitable  because  "with 
the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness."  Intellectually 
they  accept  the  teachings  of  Christianity  but  they  cannot  exer- 
cise heart-faith  because  they  do  not  desire  salvation.  They 
are  satisfied  with  their  lot.  They  are  happy  in  the  enjoyment 
of  health  and  prosperity,  and  therefore  they  are  not  attracted 
by  invitations  to  a  life  of  sacrifice  and  self-denial.  But  when 
these  things  fail,  their  hearts  turn  for  consolation  to  the  invita- 
tions and  promises  of  the  gospel  and  they  become  staunch  and 
steadfast  believers.  For  these  and  other  reasons  many  of  the 
most  distinguished  leaders  reach  the  high  level  of  unquestion- 
ing faith  by  a  winding  pathway  that  leads  through  the  dark 
valley  of  doubt.  And  with  all  such,  faith  was  made  stronger 
and  more  effective  by  the  process  of  doubting  inquiry. 

Some  of  the  most  distinguished  Bible  characters,  accord- 
ing to  the  scriptural  record,  came  to  their  great  faith  through 
a  period  of  unbelief.  Abraham,  Moses,  Gideon,  Isaiah  and 
Paul  were  stubborn  doubters.  Abraham  doubted  God's  abil- 
ity to  fulfill  His  promises.  Moses  aroused  divine  displeasure 
by  his  unbelieving  parley  with  Jehovah.  Gideon  required  re- 

«5 1  Peter  i :  8. 


42 

peated  proofs  before  he  believed.  The  lips  of  Isaiah  were 
touched  by  a  live  coal  before  he  responded  to  God's  call,  and  in 
the  blinding,  bewildering  glare  of  the  Damascus  vision  Paul 
came  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth. 

Abraham  Lincoln's  cast  of  mind  was  much  like  that  of 
Thomas.  He  could  reason  and  thus  reach  rational  conclusions. 
But  he  could  not,  without  a  process  of  careful  investigation, 
accept  a  supernatural  truth.  Yet  he  was  honest  and  tremen- 
dously in  earnest.  And  he  was  as  prompt  as  was  Thomas  to 
accept  the  evidence  which  was  given,  and  as  emphatic  in  the 
declaration  of  his  faith. 

His  RELIGIOUS  BELIEF 

The  climax  of  all  the  favors  kind  fortune  bestowed  upon 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  his  splendid  religious  faith.  What  he 
became  and  what  he  achieved  was  largely  the  product  of  his 
belief  in  things  unseen  and  eternal.  His  political  affiliations 
and  activities,  the  prosecution  of  his  professional  work  and 
his  daily  life  were  determined  by  his  religious  faith.  So  ef- 
fective was  that  faith  that  in  all  human  history,  apart  from 
the  story  of  the  Man  of  Galilee,  there  is  not  the  record  of  a 
more  exalted  character  than  was  seen  in  Abraham  Lincoln. 

What  was  the  faith  that  wrought  such  marvelous  and 
desirable  results  ?  That  question  I  propose  in  succeeding  chap- 
ters of  this  work  fully  to  answer  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  own  declar- 
ations, and  by  the  testimony  of  "a  cloud  of  witnesses." 


II 

LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE 

IN  a  recent  conversation  with  an  esteemed  friend,  an  en- 
terprising, successful  business  man,  I  expressed  an 
ardent,  long-cherished  wish,  that  there  might  be  given 
to  the  public,  correct  information  concerning  the  personal  ap- 
pearance of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

"What  difference  does  it  make,"  inquired  my  friend, 
"whether  he  was  gawky,  awkward  and  homely,  as  is  generally 
believed,  or  of  superior  physical  construction,  rare  grace  of 
movement  and  great  beauty,  as  you  so  confidently  claim  ?  We 
know  what  he  said  and  what  he  accomplished,  why  should  we 
care  to  know  how  he  looked  and  acted  ?" 

Without  seeming  to  notice  this  remark,  and  with  an 
apology  for  the  abrupt  digression,  I  said:  "Did  I  ever  tell  you 
that  during  all  the  years  of  my  residence  in  Washington,  there 
was  on  one  of  the  panels  of  the  rotunda  in  the  Capitol,  a  mag- 
nificent picture  of  'De  Soto  Discovering  the  Mississippi'  with 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  floating  over  his  head?" 

"Is  it  possible?"  exclaimed  my  friend  in  great  astonish- 
ment. "The  American  flag  in  the  picture  of  an  event  that 
occurred  more  than  two  hundred  years  before  there  was  an 
American  flag!  Why  was  such  a  caricature  permitted  to  dis- 
figure the  wall  of  that  beautiful  room?" 

"Why  not,"  I  answered,  "what  difference  does  it  make? 
We  know  that  De  Soto,  the  Spanish  explorer,  did  discover  the 
Mississippi  in  1541,  but  why  should  we  care  what  flag  appears 
in  a  picture  commemorating  that  event !" 

"We  should  care,"  was  the  answer,  "for  a  historical  picture 
should  be  true  to  the  facts." 

"It  certainly  should,"  I  replied,  "and  the  picture  of  the 

43 


44      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

personal  appearance  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  he  is  seen  in  the 
public  mind  should  also  be  true  to  the  facts,  and  that  picture 
as  now  seen  by  the  world  is  shockingly  false.  The  De  Soto 
picture  as  first  painted  was  during  later  years  made  historically 
truthful  by  the  appearance  of  the  Spanish  flag  where  the  stars 
and  stripes  had  been." 

At  this  point  my  friend  and  I  came  into  perfect  accord 
and  he  has  since  been  enthusiastic  in  his  desire  and  effort 
to  cause  the  public  to  understand  that  between  the  inner  and 
the  outer  Abraham  Lincoln  there  was  complete  harmony; 
that  the  spirit  and  character  which  for  half  a  century  have 
been  the  admiration  of  the  world  were  not  more  beautiful  and 
pleasing  than  were  his  physical  construction  and  appearance. 

To  the  work  of  showing  that  such  was  the  case,  I  am 
devoting  the  succeeding  pages  of  this  chapter.  My  own  per- 
sonal observations  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  appearance  and  bearing 
will  be  given  in  connection  with  statements  of  persons  who 
were  for  years  closely  associated  with  him,  and  from  the  testi- 
mony of  art  as  interpreted  by  some  of  the  most  competent  ex- 
perts. This,  it  is  hoped,  will  introduce  to  the  reader  Abraham 
Lincoln,  as  he  actually  looked  and  acted. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  great  height  was  the  first  of  his  physical 
characteristics  to  be  noticed  when  coming  into  his  presence. 
This  never  lost  its  impressiveness.  At  the  first,  and  all  subse- 
quent meetings  with  him,  seeing  him  alone  or  in  a  small  or 
large  company,  looking  upon  him  from  a  distance  or  in  his  im- 
mediate presence,  at  bright  noonday  or  in  the  dim  twilight, 
the  first  and  abiding  impression  was  a  sense  of  his  imposing 
height. 

His  exact  height  according  to  the  measurement  by  Car- 
penter, the  artist,  was  six  feet  three  and  a  half  inches  "in 
his  stocking  feet,"  or  six  feet  four  and  a  half  inches  with  his 
boots  on.  He  appeared  to  be  two  or  three  inches  taller  than 
that  when  standing  upon  a  platform  delivering  an  address. 
John  G.  Nicolay,  who  for  years  knew  Mr.  Lincoln  intimately 
in  Illinois  and  was  his  chief  private  secretary  during  his 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         45 

Presidency,  says:  "It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  Lincoln's 
height  was  extraordinary.  A  six-footer  is  a  tall  man.  Put 
four  inches  on  top  of  that  and  you  have  a  figure  by  no  means 
common.  There  are  few  such  men  in  the  world."1 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  as  erect  as  an  Indian,  with  not  the  least 
inclination  to  stoop  at  the  shoulders  as  so  many  writers  have 
stated.  As  Gutzon  Borglum,  the  distinguished  sculptor,  says, 
"his  neck  does  not  rest  on  his  shoulders.  It  rises  from  them 
with  an  erectness  and  an  alertness  that  is  unique."  This  fea- 
ture of  Mr.  Lincoln's  construction  accentuated  his  great  height 
and  contributed  largely  to  the  impressiveness  of  his  appearance. 
I  never  saw  him  at  close  range  without  being  impressed  by  the 
absence  from  his  neck  of  wrinkles,  as  if  it  were  pressed  down 
upon  his  shoulders,  and  also  the  peculiar  branching  out  and 
downward  into  the  shoulders  of  strong,  bracing  sinews  like 
the  swelling  out  of  the  roots  of  a  sturdy  oak.  This  is  seen  in 
the  famous  life-mask  bust  by  Leonard  W.  Volk.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's unusual  height  always  lingered  in  the  memory  of  those 
who  saw  him,  after  other  features  of  his  personal  appearance 
were  forgotten.  The  climax  of  his  stature  was  his  massive 
coronal  of  jet-black  hair  which  covered  his  marvelous  head. 

In  describing  Mr.  Lincoln's  appearance  as  he  rode  down 
Broadway,  in  New  York,  on  his  way  to  Washington  to  be  in- 
augurated as  President,  Dr.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler  says:  "He 
stood  up  in  a  barouche,  holding  on  with  his  hand  to  the  seat 
of  the  driver.  His  towering  figure  was  filled  out  by  a  long 
blue  coat  and  a  heavy  cape  which  he  wore.  On  his  bare  head 
rose  a  thick  mass  of  black  hair — the  crown  which  nature  gave 
to  her  king.  .  .  .  The  great  patriot-president  moving  slowly 
on  toward  the  conflict,  the  glory  and  the  martyrdom  that  were 
reserved  for  him  still  remains  in  my  memory  as  the  most 
august  and  majestic  figure  that  my  eyes  have  ever  beheld."2 

Dr.  Henry  Eyster  Jacobs  evidently  shared  Dr.  Cuyler's 
impressions  for  he  speaks  of  Lincoln  "as  the  tallest  and  the 

1  The  Century,  Vol.  20,  p.  932. 

3  Recollections  of  a  Long  Life,  pp.  141-142. 


46     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

grandest  man  in  the  procession."  The  impression  made  by 
Mr.  Lincoln's  height  upon  the  brilliant  young  journalist  when 
he  first  met  him  is  revealed  as  follows  by  Mr.  James  R.  Gil- 
more  of  the  New  York  Tribune:  "Mr.  Lincoln  was  exceedingly 
tall,  and  so  gaunt  that  he  seemed  even  above  his  actual  height 
of  six  feet  four  inches;  but  he  was  not,  as  very  tall  men  often 
are,  ungainly  in  either  manner  or  attitude.  He  had  an  air  of 
unstudied  ease,  a  kind  of  careless  dignity  that  well  became  his 
station." 

Mr.  Thomas  D.  Jones,  a  Cincinnati  sculptor,  went  to 
Springfield  in  December,  1860,  to  make  a  bust  of  the  newly 
elected  President,  and  in  1871  published  in  the  Cincinnati 
Commercial  an  account  of  his  first  view  of  Lincoln  at  that 
time,  which  Nicolay  copied  in  an  article  in  the  before-cited 
Century  Magazine,  as  follows:  "He  was  surrounded  by  his 
nearest  and  dearest  friends,  his  face  illuminated,  or  in  common 
parlance,  lighted  up.  He  was  physically  an  athlete  of  the 
first  order.  He  could  lift  with  ease  a  thousand  pounds,  five 
hundred  in  each  hand.  In  height  six  feet  four  inches,  and 
weighed  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  pounds.  He  was  a  spare, 
bony  and  muscular  man,  which  gave  him  that  great  and  untir- 
ing tenacity  of  endurance  during  his  laborious  administration." 

In  the  same  article  Mr.  Jones  quotes  Mr.  Lincoln,  who 
was  usually  so  disinclined  to  speak  of  himself,  as  saying:  "All 
I  had  to  do  was  to  extend  one  hand  to  a  man's  shoulder,  and 
with  weight  of  body  and  strength  of  arms  give  him  a  trip 
that  generally  sent  him  sprawling  on  the  ground,  which  would 
so  astonish  him  as  to  give  him  a  quietus." 

The  sculptor  adds,  "Well  might  he  send  them  sprawling, 
his  arms  were  very  long  and  powerful  and  his  great  strength 
and  height  were  calculated  to  make  him  a  peerless  antagonist." 

Hon.  Gideon  Welles,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  although  he 
had  been  for  four  years  intimately  associated  with  President 
Lincoln,  as  a  member  of  his  Cabinet,  states  in  his  diary  that 
he  had  no  realization  of  his  great  strength  until  he  saw  his 
bare  arms  as  he  lay  upon  his  dying  bed. 


LINCOLN 


1861 


From  a  painting  by  J.  L.  G.  Ferris,  designed  to  represent  the  raising  of 
the  flag  on  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia,  by  Abraham  Lincoln  on 
the  morning  of  February  22,  1861.  By  courtesy  of  the  artist  and  Ger- 
lach-Barklow  Co. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         47 

A  writer  in  the  Philadelphia  Evening  Bulletin  of  Novem- 
ber 1 4th,  1860,  says:  "The  beholder  felt  that  here  was  a  strong 
man,  a  person  of  character  and  power." 

Nicolay  reproduces  this  statement  of  the  Bulletin  in  his 
magazine  article  before  cited  and  in  referring  to  Mr.  Lincoln's 
great  height  declares  that  "it  was  a  stature  which  of  itself 
would  be  hailed  in  any  assembly  as  one  of  the  outward  signs 
of  leadership." 

In  prosecuting  the  critical  and  prolonged  investigations 
by  which  he  was  preparing  for  the  production  of  his  famous 
Lincoln  statue  which  Mr.  Charles  P.  Taft  and  wife  recently 
presented  to  Cincinnati,  George  Gray  Bernard  reached  the 
conclusion  that  Lincoln  "was  probably  the  most  powerful 
physical  being  known  to  the  frontier  life."  This  opinion  of 
the  distinguished  sculptor  is  corroborated  by  many  declarations 
of  men  who  were  closely  associated  with  Lincoln  in  Illinois 
and  it  explains  his  own  statements  before  cited  respecting 
his  methods  and  success  in  vanquishing  those  who  ventured 
to  engage  with  him  in  physical  encounters. 

His  great  physical  strength  and  agility  were  silent  but 
potential  influences  combining  with  his  heroic  measurements 
to  produce  such  profound  impressions  upon  all  who  met  him. 
It  was  not  necessary  that  those  who  were  in  his  presence  should 
know  of  his  great  physical  powers  in  order  to  feel  the  power 
of  his  personality.  Horace  Greeley,  while  criticising  his  ad- 
ministration, refused  to  hold  a  conference  with  him  because  he 
never  could  oppose  or  disagree  with  him  when  in  his  presence. 
Back  of  his  imposing  physical  proportions,  his  marvelous  eyes, 
his  manifest  sincerity  and  the  pleasing  tones  of  his  voice  in 
conversation,  was  the  power-house  of  his  great  strength,  mak- 
ing all  else  effective. 

Col.  A.  K.  McClure,  of  Philadelphia,  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  influential  political  leaders  of  those  times,  states  that 
when  he  "first  met  Lincoln  at  his  home  in  Springfield,  soon 
after  his  election  as  President  in  1860,  his  heart  sank  within 
him,  as  he  remembered  that  this  was  the  man  chosen  by  a 


48     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

great  nation  to  become  its  ruler  in  the  gravest  period  of  its 
history."  But  he  adds,  "Before  half  an  hour  had  passed  I 
learned  not  only  to  respect  but  indeed  to  reverence  the  man." 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  invited  Colonel  McClure  to  visit  him  for 
consultation,  and  had  himself  answered  the  doorbell  and  re- 
ceived him  when  he  arrived  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening; 
but  in  his  attire  he  made  not  the  least  preparation  for  the  com- 
ing of  his  distinguished  caller. 

Just  previous  to  Colonel  McClure's  visit  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
invited  General  Simon  Cameron  to  become  a  member  of  his 
Cabinet.  This  was  very  objectionable  to  Colonel  McClure, 
and  during  the  interview  Mr.  Lincoln  made  no  concessions  to 
the  Colonel  concerning  the  matter.  Yet,  with  this  serious  dis- 
advantage, together  with  the  unfavorable  first  impression  be- 
fore mentioned,  Mr.  Lincoln,  during  that  evening  interview, 
won  the  confidence,  esteem  and  love  of  Colonel  McClure  to 
such  a  degree  that  he  remained  one  of  his  most  devoted  friends 
and  supporters  until  the  day  of  his  death. 

Judge  Whitney,  who  for  years  was  closely  associated  with 
Lincoln  in  his  law  practice  in  Illinois,  and  who  never  failed 
to  give  him  the  full  measure  of  his  loyal  and  earnest  support, 
tells  of  his  first  impressions  of  Lincoln,  as  follows:  "While 
court  was  in  session  Lincoln  came  straggling  carelessly  in. 
His  face  divested  of  his  usual  melancholy  garb,  and  apparently 
in  a  humor  to  take  life  easy  and  gaily  for  the  present  moment. 
I  noticed  his  intellectual  countenance  and  especially  his  eyes, 
so  clearly  indicative  of  deep  reflection,  at  the  first  glance.  I 
mentally  pronounced  him  to  be  a  great  man  at  once.  I  never 
saw  any  man  who  impressed  me  so  highly,  at  first  sight,  as 
Abraham  Lincoln."3 

Of  his  silent,  involuntary  influence  upon  those  with  whom 
he  mingled,  Francis  Grierson  says:  "Lincoln's  presence  infused 
into  the  mixed  and  uncertain  throng  something  spiritual  and 
supernormal.  His  looks,  his  words,  his  voice,  his  attitude, 
were  like  a  magical  essence  dropped  into  the  seething  cauldron 
3  Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln,  p.  30. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         49 

of  politics,  reacting  against  the  foam,  calming  the  surface 
and  letting  the  people  see  to  the  bottom.  It  did  not  take  him 
long."* 

William  O.  Stoddard,  who  is  still  living,  was  one  of 
President  Lincoln's  private  secretaries,  and  in  one  of  his 
valuable  literary  works  makes  the  following  interesting  and 
instructive  statements:  "One  strong  impression  was  left  upon 
my  mind  indelibly.  I  saw  him  on  various  occasions,  under 
varied  circumstances,  surrounded  by  or  in  conference  with 
the  foremost  men  of  his  day.  Among  them  were  his  Cabinet 
officers,  senators,  congressmen,  jurists,  governors  of  states, 
scholars,  literary  men,  military  and  naval  celebrities,  foreign 
ambassadors.  Of  many  of  these  men  I  had  myself  formed 
previously  even  exaggerated  estimates.  I  took  note,  however, 
of  one  inevitable  unfailing  phenomenon.  Every  man  of  them 
seemed  suddenly  to  diminish  in  size  the  moment  he  in  any 
manner  came  into  comparison  with  Mr.  Lincoln.  Another 
curious  thing  was  that  all  the  really  ablest  men  among  them 
were  aware,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  of  the  superior 
strength  confronting  them."5 

My  own  observations  and  experiences  relative  to  the  matter 
here  mentioned  by  Mr.  Stoddard  were  identical  with  his,  as 
stated  by  him  herein,  with  such  force  and  clearness.  Upon 
all  occasions  it  was  the  same  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  standing 
or  moving  about  with  other  men,  he  was  absolutely  and  always 
in  a  class  by  himself,  as  was  realized  by  those  who  saw  him  in 
company  and  as  shown  by  all  photographs  in  which  he  ap- 
pears as  one  of  a  group.  In  a  picture  taken  in  front  of  an 
army  tent,  between  a  Union  general  and  a  detective,  his  superi- 
ority in  personal  appearance  is  impressively  shown.  Perhaps 
that  superiority  is  seen  more  clearly  in  his  picture  taken  with  a 
larger  company  consisting  chiefly  of  officers  in  McClellan's 
army  before  Antietam.  In  these,  as  in  all  similar  pictures 
as  well  as  in  living  groups  before  his  death,  the  towering 

*  The  Valley  of  Shadows,  p.  200. 
6  Lincoln  at  Work,  pp.  9-10. 


50      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

figure  first  attracted  attention,  but  it  was  an  indefinable 
majesty  of  being  and  bearing  that  made  him  continue  as  the 
center  of  attraction  wherever  he  appeared. 

At  his  second  inauguration  as  President,  Mr.  Lincoln's 
superiority  in  personal  appearance  to  all  other  public  men  of 
his  day  was  seen  with  great  distinctness.  Never  did  he  appear 
so  august  and  imposing,  so  magnificent  and  masterful  as  upon 
that  occasion,  surrounded  as  he  was  by  a  large  company  of 
the  most  distinguished  and  fine-looking  men  ever  assembled  in 
one  gathering  during  the  history  of  the  nation.  An  extended 
account  of  that  event  and  of  his  appearance  and  movements 
upon  that  occasion  can  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  work. 

But  imposing  as  was  his  appearance  when  mingling  with 
other  men,  it  was  still  more  so  when  he  was  addressing  an 
audience  upon  a  subject  in  which  he  was  deeply  interested. 
As  Nicolay  says:  "As  a  standing  figure  he  was  seen  to  best 
advantage  on  the  orator's  platform.  At  certain  moments, 
when,  in  summing  up  a  connected  series  of  logical  proposi- 
tions, he  brought  them  together  into  a  demonstration  of  un- 
answerable argument,  his  form  would  straighten  up  to  full 
height,  the  head  would  be  slightly  thrown  back,  and  the  face 
become  radiant  with  the  consciousness  of  intellectual  victory, 
making  his  personal  appearance  grandly  imposing  and  im- 
pressive."6 

Francis  Grierson,  who  heard  Lincoln  in  his  debates  with 
Douglas,  gives  the  following  thrilling  word  picture  of  his  ap- 
pearance on  those  occasions:  "He  stood  like  some  solitary 
pine  on  a  lonely  summit,  very  tall,  very  dark,  very  gaunt, 
and  very  rugged,  his  swarthy  features  stamped  with  a  sad 
serenity,  and  the  instant  he  began  to  speak  the  ungainly  mouth 
lost  its  heaviness,  the  half-listless  eyes  attained  a  wondrous 
power,  and  the  people  stood  bewildered  and  breathless  under 
the  natural  magic  of  the  strangest,  most  original  personality 
known  to  the  English-speaking  world  since  Robert  Burns. 
Every  look  of  the  deep-set  eyes,  every  movement  of  the  promi- 
8  The  Century,  VoL  20,  p.  933. 


PRESIDENT  ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 
and  Detective  Allan  Pinkerton  in  General  McClernand's  tent  before  Antietam. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         51 

nent  jaw,  every  wave  of  the  hard  gripping  hand,  produced  an 
impression,  and  before  he  had  spoken  twenty  minutes  the  con- 
viction took  possession  of  thousands  that  here  was  the  pro- 
phetic man  of  the  present  and  the  political  saviour  of  the 
future."7 

Equally  graphic,  more  scientific  and  faultlessly  faithful 
to  truth,  is  the  following  from  Truman  Bartlett,  the  famous 
American  sculptor:  When  speaking  "waves  of  righteous  in- 
dignation came  sweeping  over  him.  His  body  was  trans- 
formed and  his  face  was  lighted  with  a  mysterious  inner 
light.  The  dull,  listless  expression  dropped  like  a  mask.  The 
melancholy  shadow  disappeared  in  a  twinkling.  The  eyes 
began  to  sparkle,  the  mouth  to  smile,  and  the  whole  counte- 
nance was  wreathed  in  animation.  The  hard  lines  faded  out 
of  his  face  and  the  emotion  seemed  to  diffuse  itself  all  over 
him.  His  sad  face  of  a  sudden  became  radiant;  he  seemed 
like  one  inspired. 

"The  act  of  expressing  a  great  sentiment  or  concluding  a 
fine  period,  transformed  Lincoln  into  beauty  and  nobility  of 
bearing.  He  often  quivered  all  over  with  emotion  nearly 
stifling  his  utterance. 

"All  agree  in  stating  that  he  had  wonderful  vertical  elas- 
ticity and  could,  while  speaking,  stretch  up  to  an  unwonted 
height,  or  appear  to  do  so,  which  as  artists  know,  is  a  quality 
seen  only  in  people  of  the  highest  physical  construction.  These 
things  suggest  a  splendidly  sensitive,  responsive  and  powerful 
system  of  nerves,  a  muscular  organization  of  a  rare  and 
superior  kind,  an  admirable  body  and  a  deep  harmony  between 
the  outer  and  inner  man."8 

The  great  debates  with  Douglas  attracted  to  Illinois  promi- 
nent political  leaders  and  others  who  were  just  beginning 
careers  of  public  service.  Among  the  latter  was  Hon.  James 
M.  Ashley  of  Ohio,  who,  at  that  time,  was  conducting  his 
first  campaign  for  a  seat  in  Congress.  He  was  a  strong,  am- 

7  The  Valley  of  Shadows,  p.  198. 

8  The  Portraits  of  Lincoln,  pp.  15,  16,  18. 


52      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

bitious  young  man  and  an  ardent  supporter  of  Chase  as  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidency.  He  had  never  seen  Lincoln  but 
immediately  after  the  October  election  he  hastened  to  Illinois 
just  in  time  to  hear  the  last  of  the  memorable  debates.  I  have 
today  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  irrepressible  enthusiasm  for 
Lincoln  with  which  General  Ashley  returned  to  his  Toledo 
home,  and  to  the  people  who  had  just  chosen  him  as  their 
representative  in  Congress.  He  remained  loyal  to  Chase,  how- 
ever, as  the  first  choice  of  Ohio  for  the  Presidential  nomina- 
tion two  years  later,  but  his  high  estimate  of  Lincoln's  ability 
soon  became  known  throughout  the  state  and  had  much  to  do 
in  producing  the  condition  of  public  thought  that  caused  the 
votes  of  four  Ohio  delegates  in  the  Chicago  convention  to  be 
changed  from  Chase  to  Lincoln,  by  which  the  latter  on  the 
third  ballot  was  nominated  for  President.  Although  it  was  at 
the  close  of  that  long  and  taxing  struggle,  Lincoln's  vitality 
and  strength  were  sufficient  to  accomplish  that  result  and  to 
cause  General  Ashley  at  the  close  of  his  distinguished  and  use- 
ful life  to  say:  "When  I  heard  Mr.  Lincoln  proclaim  at  Alton 
'that  it  was  a  question  between  right  and  wrong'  his  face 
glowed  as  if  tinged  with  a  halo,  and  to  me  he  looked  the 
prophet  of  hope  and  joy." 

The  impressiveness  and  force  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  heroic 
stature  was  accentuated  by  the  symmetry  and  grace  of  his 
physical  construction.  In  size  and  form  the  members  of  his 
body  were  all  in  perfect  proportion.  Considered  separately 
they  seemed  ponderous,  but  the  size  of  each  one  was  in  fault- 
less harmony  with  the  heroic  figure  of  which  it  formed  a 
part. 

Some  writers  have  unfortunately  referred  to  "his  long 
arms"  and  "his  large  hands  and  feet,"  forgetting  as  it  seems 
that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  very  large  man  and  would  have  been 
ill-formed  if  any  of  his  members  had  been  of  less  dimensions. 
Nicolay  says:  "The  first  impression  will  naturally  be  that  a 
man  with  such  long  limbs  and  large  and  prominent  features 
could  not  possibly  be  handsome ;  and  this  would  be  true  of  a 


gl 

w  o 

h-H        ^j 

H    S 

O  'o 
2  S 
O  g 

S    Jfi 

<:    o 


s  ^ 

g    8 


•s, 


i 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         53 

man  of  ordinary  height.  Long  limbs  and  large  and  strong 
features  were  fitted  to  this  unusual  stature,  and  harmonized 
perfectly  with  it;  there  was  no  effect  of  disproportion  or 
grotesqueness."9 

Sculptors  and  critics  are  agreed  in  characterizing  Lin- 
coln's hands  as  marvelously  shapely  and  beautiful.  Borglum 
says:  "His  hands  were  not  disproportionately  large.  In  his 
early  life  hard  labor  had  developed  the  palms  of  his  hands, 
and  the  thick  muscle  part  of  his  thumb  was  full  and  strong; 
but  this  shrank  later  to  the  thumb  of  a  literary  man." 

Bartlett  says:  "The  photograph  of  Lincoln  and  Little  Tad 
shows  the  President's  great  style  of  hand  and  its  splendid 
articulation  with  the  wrist.  A  hand  fit  not  only  for  the  first 
and  greatest  American,  but  in  every  way  worthy  to  write,  as  he 
did,  literature  that  is  nothing  less  than  biblical  in  its  majestic 
simplicity."10 

Bernard  says:  "Next  to  the  face,  as  an  index  of  Lincoln's 
character,  came  his  hands.  The  fingers  are  long  and  tapering, 
and  the  lines  that  divide  them  are  almost  straight  and  parallel. 
The  hands  suggest  sensitiveness,  silence  and  repose." 

His  shoulders  were  broad  and  his  chest  massive,  like  those 
of  his  muscular  father.  His  arms  and  legs  were  longer  than 
were  Thomas  Lincoln's,  for  he  was  of  much  greater  height. 
All  sculptors  who  have  made  a  careful  study  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
physical  form  are  united  in  the  declaration  that  he  was  of 
very  rare  and  symmetrical  construction.  Very  tall  men  are 
usually  clumsy  and  awkward  in  movement,  but  it  was  quite 
otherwise  with  Mr.  Lincoln.  Bartlett  quotes  approvingly  the 
following  from  Nicolay:  "There  was  neither  oddity,  eccen- 
tricity, awkwardness  nor  grotesqueness  in  his  face,  figure  or 
movement.  On  the  contrary  he  was  prepossessing  in  appear- 
ance when  the  entire  man  was  fairly  considered,  mentally  and 
physically,  his  unusual  height  and  proportion,  and  the  general 
movement  of  body  and  mind.  His  walk  was  vigorous,  elastic, 

9  The  Century,  Vol.  20,  p.  932. 

10  Portraits  of  Lincoln,  p.  33. 


54     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

easy,  rather  quick,  firm  and  dignified;  no  shuffling  or  hesi- 
tancy."11 

Hon.  H.  C.  Deming  describes  "his  posture  and  carriage" 
as  being  "with  the  grace  of  unstudied  and  careless  ease  rather 
than  of  cultivated  airs  and  highbred  pretensions."  My  own 
recollections  are  that  seated  or  standing  he  had  an  artless  and 
unconscious  dignity  of  which  there  could  be  no  counterfeit  or 
imitation,  and  every  movement  however  slight  or  considerable 
was  gracefully  pleasing  and  impressive. 

There  have  been  published  some  very  careless  and  mislead- 
ing statements  concerning  Mr.  Lincoln's  habits  of  dress. 

Hon.  Joseph  H.  Choate,  the  distinguished  lawyer,  states- 
man and  diplomat,  was  a  young  man  when  Lincoln  delivered 
the  Cooper  Institute  address  and  in  his  personal  reminiscences 
of  that  event  in  describing  Lincoln's  appearance  he  says:  "His 
great  stature  signalled  him  out  from  the  crowd.  His  clothes 
hung  awkwardly  on  his  giant  frame." 

One  of  the  members  of  the  Young  Men's  Central  Republi- 
can Union,  under  whose  auspices  that  address  was  delivered, 
in  a  recently  published  account  of  that  affair  writes:  "His 
dress  that  night  before  a  New  York  audience  was  the  most  un- 
becoming that  a  fiend's  ingenuity  could  have  devised  for  a  tall, 
gaunt  man — a  black  frock  coat,  ill  setting  and  short  for  him 
in  the  body,  skirt  and  arms — a  rolling  collar  low  down,  dis- 
closing his  long,  thin,  shrivelled  throat,  uncovered  and  ex- 
posed." 

These  two  descriptions  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  attire  at  the  time 
of  that  most  important  event  in  his  pre-presidential  life  are 
fairly  representative  of  similar  statements  which  have  been 
published  in  periodicals  and  books.  No  such  severe  character- 
ization of  Mr.  Lincoln's  dress  upon  that  momentous  occasion 
was  published  at  the  time  of  the  event,  nor  until  after  it  had 
become  the  prevailing  custom  for  writers  to  exercise  their  best 
gifts  upon  efforts  to  disparage  Mr.  Lincoln's  personal  ap- 
pearance. Some  writers  seem  to  think  that  a  true  and  faithful 

11  Portraits  of  Lincoln,  p.  12. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         55 

picture  of  the  inner  Lincoln,  and  his  achievements,  must  have 
for  a  background  a  shocking  caricature  of  the  outer  Lincoln. 
Hence,  his  dress  has  been  made  the  subject  of  most  unfortunate 
misrepresentations  of  which  the  foregoing  are  fair  samples. 

It  is  not  at  all  probable  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  to  any  degree 
carelessly  or  unbecomingly  dressed  at  the  time  he  made  the 
Cooper  Institute  speech.  He  realized  fully  that  it  was  an  oc- 
casion of  very  great  importance  to  his  own  political  prefer- 
ment. His  ambition  at  that  time  was  to  be  chosen  as  Vice- 
President  at  the  next  national  election.  He  was  aware  that 
those  who  were  seeking  the  nomination  of  Seward  as  the 
republican  candidate  for  President  were  planning  to  have  him 
selected  for  the  second  place.  That  was  the  extent  of  his  as- 
pirations while  preparing  for  the  Cooper  Institute  speech,  al- 
though his  friends  in  Illinois  were  vigorously  conducting  a 
campaign  to  place  his  name  at  the  head  of  the  ticket.  In  either 
event  this  engagement  to  speak  in  New  York  City  was  a  golden 
opportunity  if  he  could  measure  up  to  its  requirements.  So 
keen  was  his  realization  of  all  this  that  on  Sunday  afternoon 
he  broke  an  engagement  to  dine  at  the  home  of  Henry  C. 
Bowen  that  his  thoughts  might  not  be  diverted  by  social  amen- 
ities from  the  address  he  had  to  deliver  the  next  evening.  He 
was  oppressed  by  his  realization  of  the  requirements  of  the  op- 
portunity to  address  such  an  audience,  and  that  he  might  ap- 
pear to  good  advantage  he  was  clad  in  an  expensive  new  suit 
made  expressly  for  that  occasion.  He  was  not  without  ex- 
perience, being  just  past  fifty-one  years  of  age  and  having  been 
prominently  before  the  public  for  many  years.  It  is,  there- 
fore, not  in  the  least  probable  that  there  was  any  lack  of  come- 
liness in  his  attire  apart  from  the  unavoidable  difficulty  of 
fitting  an  outer  garment  to  a  form  of  such  unusual  measure- 
ments. That  his  garments  did  not  fit  as  closely  as  did  those 
upon  the  rotund  figures  of  Bryant  and  Field  is  possible,  but  that 
they  were  less  becoming  than  others  is  not  probable. 

Fortunately,  however,  we  are  not  left  to  probability  re- 
specting his  appearance  upon  that  platform.  During  the  after- 


56      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

noon  of  that  27th  of  February,  1860,  Mr.  Lincoln,  clad  in  the 
suit  he  wore  while  delivering  the  Cooper  Institute  address 
stood  before  the  camera  for  a  full  length  photograph  by  Brady. 
The  attention  of  the  reader  is  most  earnestly  invited  to  that 
picture  with  its  dignified,  impressive  pose,  compact,  sinewy 
neck,  gracefully  curved  collar  and  well-fitting,  becoming  coat 
and  vest,  silently  protesting  against  all  representations  of  Lin- 
coln's attire  upon  that  occasion  as  lacking  in  any  particular. 

This  one  picture  of  Lincoln  as  he  appeared  on  the  day  of 
that  address  should  be  sufficient  to  silence,  forever,  all  claims 
that  he  was  careless  in  his  attire.  The  picture  being  a  photo- 
graph taken  from  life  cannot  be  untruthful  and  bears  witness 
to  the  scrupulous  care  with  which  Mr.  Lincoln  prepared  for 
his  appearance  before  the  public.  But  it  would  perhaps  be  well 
for  the  reader  to  consult  other  Lincoln  photographs  and  note 
the  uniform  fit  of  coat  and  vest  to  the  neck  and  chest,  and  the 
graceful  folds  and  lines  of  every  garment  worn.  Each  one  will 
be  found  to  confirm  the  statement  of  Dr.  F.  Fuller  that  "a 
peculiar  air  of  neatness  and  refinement  so  difficult  to  describe, 
yet  so  attractive,  always  pervaded  him."1 

The  following  in  the  Nicolay  Century  Magazine  article  has 
peculiar  weight  in  this  connection:  "There  were  many  flippant 
and  ill-natured  remarks  concerning  Mr.  Lincoln's  dress,  giving 
people  the  idea  that  he  was  either  very  rude  by  nature,  or  given 
to  hopeless  eccentricities.  Nothing  could  be  more  untrue.  He 
suffered  no  wise  in  comparison  as  to  personal  appearance  with 
Douglas,  the  senator,  or  Bryant,  the  poet,  or  Edward  Everett, 
the  polished  statesman,  diplomat  and  orator. 

"In  the  fifteen  hundred  days  during  which  he  occupied  the 
White  House,  receiving  daily  visits  at  almost  all  hours,  often 
from  seven  in  the  morning  to  midnight,  from  all  classes 
and  conditions  of  American  citizens,  as  well  as  from  many 
distinguished  foreigners,  there  was  never  any  eccentric  or 
habitual  incongruity  of  his  garb  with  his  station.  The  world 
has  yet  to  learn  that  General  Scott,  or  Lord  Lyons,  or  Bishop 

12  Lincoln  Scrap-book,  p.  3. 


LINCOLN   AT   COOPER   INSTITUTE 

From    a   photograph    by  Brady,  New    York,  February    29,  1860,    showing 
Lincoln's  attire  when  he  delivered  his  Cooper  Institute  address. 
By  courtesy  of  Mr.  F.  H.  Meserve,  New  York  City 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         57 

Simpson,  or  Prince  Napoleon,  or  Archbishop  Hughes,  or  the 
Comte  de  Paris,  or  Chief  Justice  Taney  ever  felt  humiliated 
by  the  dress  or  want  of  dignity  of  President  Lincoln  in  state 
ceremonial  or  private  audience."13 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  as  refined  and  courteous  in  bearing  as  he 
was  gentle  and  kind  in  disposition.  His  great  wealth  of  af- 
fection and  sympathy  found  constant  expression  in  tones  of 
tenderness  and  words  well  chosen  and  fitting.  He  was  as  re- 
fined as  Chesterfield  and  as  self-forgetful  as  Sir  Philip  Syd- 
ney. His  manners  were  in  keeping  with  his  motives  and  he 
could  not  be  rude  or  severe  in  word  or  act.  In  all  of  his  strug- 
gles with  Douglas  he  was  the  high-toned  gentleman  of  whom 
the  most  cultivated  were  rightfully  proud.  However  severe 
the  provocations,  and  they  were  sometimes  intolerable,  he  was 
not  once  exasperated  so  as  to  speak  unadvisedly  or  act  in  an 
unbecoming  manner.  In  his  severe  trials  as  President  he  al- 
ways manifested  that  considerate  regard  for  others  which 
was  so  becoming  to  the  exalted  station  he  occupied.  His 
closest  private  secretary,  who  saw  much  more  of  him  during 
that  period  than  did  any  other  person,  states  that  "he  always 
listened  with  patience  even  when  the  request  of  his  petitioner 
might  be  frivolous  or  foolish.  He  gave  others  courtesy,  kind- 
ness and  consideration  to  the  last  degree." 

During  all  those  trying  years  he  never  spoke  a  harsh  or 
impatient  word  to  any  one  of  his  secretaries  or  to  others  in 
their  presence  as  they  voluntarily  testify.  And  of  the  many 
who  were  officially  and  otherwise  associated  with  him  no  one 
has  made  record  of  a  word  or  act  of  President  Lincoln  lack- 
ing in  any  of  the  qualities  which  should  characterize  the  de- 
portment "of  a  natural  gentleman,"  as  Bartlett  designates  him. 

But  on  the  other  hand,  as  stated  by  the  same  writer,  "He 
had  perfect  naturalness  and  native  grace  which  never  failed 
to  shine  through  his  words  and  acts.  He  always  maintained  a 
signal  reserve  without  the  least  effort.  He  appeared  and  acted 
with  an  elegance  that  a  king  might  envy  and  common  men 
«  Vol.  20,  pp.  934-937- 


58     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

despise.  He  moved  with  an  ease  that  was  in  the  highest  de- 
gree impressive  and  with  a  grace  of  nature  that  would  have 
become  a  woman."14 

When  he  first  met  Dr.  Cuyler  in  Chicago,  soon  after  his 
election  as  President,  he  promptly  exclaimed,  "I  have  kept  up 
with  you  nearly  every  week  in  the  New  York  Independent." 
This  little  sally  of  social  suavity  "touched  the  soft  spot"  in  the 
heart  of  the  veteran  preacher  and  writer  as  Dr.  Cuyler  himself 
states.  All  statements  and  insinuations  to  the  effect  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  lacking  in  the  social  amenities  of  life  are  fittingly 
rebuked  by  the  following  statement  of  Mr.  Edward  Everett: 
"I  recognized  in  the  President  a  full  measure  of  the  qualities 
which  entitle  him  to  the  personal  respect  of  the  people.  On  the 
only  social  occasion  on  which  I  ever  had  the  honor  to  be  in  his 
company,  viz.,  the  Commemoration  at  Gettysburg,  he  sat  at  the 
table  of  my  friend  David  Wills,  by  the  side  of  several  distin- 
guished persons,  foreigners  and  Americans;  and  in  gentle- 
manly appearance,  manners  and  conversation,  he  was  the  peer 
of  any  man  at  the  table." 

There  is  a  sharp  conflict  between  literature  and  art  touch- 
ing Mr.  Lincoln's  personal  appearance.  His  features  are  the 
center  of  that  contest.  For  many  years  literature  was  alone  in 
activity  in  that  field  and  was  undivided  in  testimony  until  at 
length  in  1891  Mr.  Nicolay  published  in  The  Century  Magazine 
an  able,  discriminating  article  showing  that  the  representation 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  ungainly,  awkward  and  homely  was  rad- 
ically erroneous.  But  writing  disparagingly  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
looks  had  become  so  prevalent  and  was  continued  so  persist- 
ently that  even  the  strong  and  unequivocal  testimony  of  the 
great  President's  private  secretary  attracted  but  little  attention 
and  was  soon  forgotten  by  the  public.  Mr.  Nicolay  in  his 
article  explained  conditions  by  saying:  "Partly  as  a  blind  in- 
ference from  his  humble  origin,  but  more  from  the  misrepre- 
sentations made,  sometimes  in  jest,  sometimes  in  malice,  dur- 
ing political  campaigns,  there  grew  up  in  the  minds  of  many 
14  Portraits  of  Lincoln,  p.  16. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         59 

the  strong  impression  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  ugly,  gawky  and 
ill-mannered."15 

Borglum,  in  the  same  line,  very  pathetically  says:  "Lincoln, 
one  of  the  greatest  of  observers,  was  himself  the  least  truly 
observed.  God  had  built  him  in  the  backyard  of  the  nation. 
.  .  .  He  was  heard,  but  seems  rarely,  if  ever,  to  have  been 
truly  seen.  .  .  .  It  is  surprising  that  professional  observers, 
artists  and  writers  alike,  have  drawn  and  redrawn  an  untrue 
picture  of  this  man.  .  .  .  The  hundreds  of  copyrighted  lives 
of  him,  in  their  personal  description,  are  largely  reiterated 
popular  opinion  and  hearsay." 

Bartlett,  with  regret  amounting  almost  to  humiliation,  says : 
"Biographers,  statesmen,  scholars,  and  writers  have  echoed 
ordinary  observers  with  such  persistence  that  it  would  seem 
they  took  delight  in  trying  to  heighten  the  incongruous  con- 
trast between  the  outward  and  the  inner  man."16 

The  manner  in  which  this  misrepresentation  of  Lincoln's 
physical  construction  and  appearance  was  conducted  is  thus 
described  by  Bartlett:  "The  vocabulary  employed  to  describe 
him  includes  about  every  word  in  common  use  in  the  English 
language,  the  meaning  of  which  is  opposed  to  anything  admi- 
rable, elegant,  beautiful  or  refined."17 

The  effect  upon  the  public  mind  of  this  persistent  misrep- 
resentation is  stated  by  Bartlett  as  follows:  "It  is  the  popular 
belief,  the  world  over,  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  in  face  and 
figure,  in  action  or  repose,  an  ugly  man.  While  the  feeling  of 
Lincoln's  rare  and  superior  worth  as  a  man  has  steadily  in- 
creased since  his  death,  with  startling  strides  and  unexpected 
surprises,  his  personal  appearance  as  it  was  first  described  has 
gone  into  unquestioned  history."18 

And  even  Lowell,  so  ardently  devoted  to  the  memory  of 
Lincoln,  in  the  great  poem  in  which  he  designates  him  as  "The 

1?Vol.  20,  p.  932. 

16  Portraits  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  n. 

17  Portraits  of  Lincoln,  p.  7. 

18  Portraits  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  u. 


60      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

First  American"  tacitly  admits  Lincoln's  lack  of  comeliness 
and  apologetically  says: 

"Outward  grace  is  dust." 

During  all  the  years  since  Lincoln's  death  art  was  in  the 
field  and  was  silently  contradicting  the  claims  of  literature 
respecting  Lincoln's  physical  construction  and  appearance. 
But  not  until  recent  years  has  public  attention  been  effectively 
called  to  the  conclusive  proof  of  his  peerless  and  symmetrical 
proportions  and  his  rare  beauty  of  form  and  features  as 
shown  by  the  artist's  sensitized  plate  and  the  sculptor's  mold. 
Few  public  men  have  been  so  plentifully  and  so  variously  rep- 
resented in  art  as  has  Abraham  Lincoln.  Because  of  his  kind- 
ness to  artists  who  asked  for  sittings  we  now  have  Daguerreo- 
types, ambrotypes,  tintypes,  photographs  and  masks  taken  from 
life  during  a  period  beginning  in  1848,  when  he  was  thirty- 
nine  years  old,  and  continuing  until  only  a  few  weeks  before 
his  death.  These  are  unimpeachable  witnesses  whose  testimony 
cannot  be  disproved,  nor  even  questioned.  Statements  of 
literature  are  expressions  of  fallible  human  opinions.  Photo- 
graphs are  records  of  unquestionable  facts.  Literature  at  best 
is  a  statement  of  what  the  writer  believes  to  be  true.  A  good 
photograph  is  truth  itself.  Literature  may  be,  and  often  is, 
false.  A  good  photograph  cannot  be  untrue.  A  first-class 
photograph  and  a  well-made  life-mask  cannot  tell  "the  whole 
truth"  but  they  can  and  do  tell  "nothing  but  the  truth."  And 
all  lovers  of  truth  and  all  admirers  of  Lincoln  may  well  re- 
joice at  the  entrance  into  this  field  of  investigation  of  some 
of  the  ablest,  most  skillful  and  learned  sculptors  of  the  world 
who,  with  the  Volk  life-mask  and  the  products  of  the  camera, 
have  given  to  the  world  its  first  truthful  and  accurate  descrip- 
tion of  the  physical  construction  and  appearance  of  Abraham 
Lincoln.  It  was  at  the  prime  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  heroic  manhood 
in  1858  that  Leonard  W.  Volk  met  the  future  President  at  one 
of  the  great  debates  and  secured  from  him  a  promise  to  sit  for 
a  life-mask  when  next  in  Chicago  for  several  consecutive  days. 


LEONARD  W.  VOLK  AND  HIS  BUSTS  OF  LINCOLN  AND  DOUGLAS 

From   an   original   photograph    presented    the    author    by    Miss    Caroline 

Mcllvaine,  Chicago. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         61 

Mr.  Volk  was  at  that  time  engaged  in  making  the  heroic 
statue  of  Douglas  which  adorns  one  of  the  public  parks  of 
Chicago,  and  therefore  it  was  not  until  April,  1860,  that  the 
opportunity  came  to  make  the  famous  Lincoln  life-mask  and 
bust.  This  was  done  soon  after  the  Cooper  Institute  speech 
and  a  few  weeks  previous  to  the  Chicago  convention  by  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  President. 
Soon  after  that  nomination  Volk  supplemented  his  work  by 
making  plaster  casts  of  both  of  Lincoln's  hands. 

Good  fortune  favored  the  sculptor's  purposes  in  this  matter 
and  helpful  influences  inspired  his  genius  and  aided  his  efforts. 
Volk  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Douglas  who,  at  that  time,  was 
the  leading  democratic  candidate  for  President.  Having  made 
a  life-mask  of  Douglas  of  whose  nomination  he  felt  assured, 
he  was  ambitious  also  to  do  the  same  for  the  republican  who 
would  be  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  that  office.  But  none  of 
the  leaders  of  the  republican  party  whom  Mr.  Volk  consulted 
would  venture  an  opinion  as  to  their  probable  nominee  and  not 
one  of  them  suggested  the  possibility  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  nomina- 
tion. But  seeing  in  the  papers  an  announcement  that  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  in  Chicago  on  professional  business  and  would  remain 
for  two  weeks,  Volk  hastened  to  the  courtroom  and  made 
arrangements  with  Lincoln  for  the  sittings  which  had  been 
promised  him  nearly  two  years  before.  Thus,  unwittingly,  the 
enterprising  sculptor  secured  the  coveted  opportunity  to  make 
the  life-mask  of  the  republican  candidate  for  President,  and 
as  we  now  know,  the  greatest  and  most  beloved  of  all  Ameri- 
cans. 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  special  illumination  of  the 
sculptor's  mind  and  soul  while  engaged  on  the  Lincoln  mask 
and  bust,  enabling  him  to  make  available  the  before-mentioned 
events  and  incidents  in  the  production  of  one  of  the  greatest 
and  most  nearly  perfect  works  of  sculptural  art  in  human  his- 
tory. That  life-mask  thus  providentially  produced  has,  for 
half  a  century  and  more,  been  subjected  to  the  critical  exami- 
nation of  the  most  skillful,  learned  and  widely  experienced 


62      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

sculptors  of  the  world,  and  as  far  as  known,  has  never  been 
spoken  or  written  of  otherwise  than  in  terms  of  very  strong 
commendation.  Its  praises  have  been  and  still  are  being 
sounded  not  only  by  the  foremost  of  American  artists  and 
scholars  but  by  the  most  eminent  sculptors  of  France. 

That  bust  is  such  an  exact  reproduction  in  form  and  size 
of  Lincoln's  head,  features,  neck  and  shoulders  when  he  was 
at  his  prime  of  strength,  and  comeliness,  that  in  its  presence 
one  has  a  thrilling  sense  of  being  with  Lincoln  himself.  To 
place  the  hand  caressingly  upon  the  forehead,  or  cheek  of  that 
bust,  as  for  years  I  have  done  almost  daily  with  the  copy  that 
stands  on  an  oak  pedestal  in  my  library,  where  I  am  now  writ- 
ing, is  to  have  the  whole  being  filled  with  mingled  emotions  of 
love  and  admiration  for  one  so  noble  and  majestic. 

The  best  photograph  of  Lincoln  enables  us  to  see  him  from 
only  one  viewpoint,  but  the  bust  permits  us  to  look  at  him 
from  every  angle  as  we  used  to  do  when  he  was  with  us,  and 
even  to  seem  to  touch  him  as  if  he  were  still  personally  present. 

The  rare  excellence  of  the  mask  is  proved  by  the  unequivo- 
cal and  conclusive  testimony  of  thoroughly  competent  judges. 
John  Hay,  in  an  unqualified  commendation  of  the  Volk  life- 
mask  says: 

"The  face  has  a  clean,  firm  outline;  it  is  free  from  fat, 
but  the  muscles  are  hard  and  full;  the  large  mobile  mouth  is 
ready  to  speak,  to  shout,  or  laugh;  the  bold,  curved  nose  is 
broad  and  substantial,  with  spreading  nostrils ;  it  is  a  face  full 
of  life,  of  energy,  of  vivid  aspiration."19 

Bartlett  says:  "This  life-mask  is  the  first  reliable  contribu- 
tion to  the  material  upon  which  a  safe  examination  of  the 
forms  of  his  face  can  be  made."20 

The  same  author  also  states:  "It  is  a  perfect  reproduction 
of  Lincoln's  face.  Both  mask  and  hands  are  distinguished  for 
exactitude  of  form."  And  in  his  account  of  submitting  the 
life-mask  to  the  world's  most  eminent  sculptors  at  Paris,  Mr. 
Bartlett  writes:  "All  of  those  distinguished  sculptors  examined 
18  The  Century,  November,  1890.  20  Portraits  of  Lincoln,  p.  19. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

Bust  from  the  famous  life-mask  made  in  Chicago  by  Leonard  W.  Volk,  in 
April,  1860,  a  few  days  before  Lincoln's  nomination  as  a  candidate  for 
President.  From  a  photograph  of  the  bust  which  is  in  the  author's  col- 
lection. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         63 

and  discussed  the  mask  as  an  original  and  interesting  piece  of 
facial  construction."21 

Bernard  says:  "His  face,  the  temple  of  his  manhood,  we 
have  with  us  in  the  life-mask." 

"It  is  infallible,"  was  Borglum's  characterization  of  the 
life-mask  after  devoting  many  months  to  the  most  diligent 
study  of  that  great  work  of  art,  and  after  the  careful  perusal 
of  all  of  Lincoln's  speeches  and  writings  together  with  the 
story  of  his  life  and  the  history  of  his  efforts  and  achievements. 
Borglum  here  employs  a  term  that  can  never  be  properly  ap- 
plied to  any  product  of  human  ingenuity  and  skill.  Nothing 
that  man  has  constructed  is  "infallible."  But  that  bust  was  not 
constructed.  It  was  not  formed  and  fashioned  by  human 
hands.  It  was  cast  in  a  plaster  mold,  formed  on  Lincoln's 
face  and  removed  when  it  was  set,  and  therefore  in  its  every 
detail  it  is  "infallible,"  as  Borglum  says,  and  "a  perfect  re- 
production of  Lincoln's  face,"  as  Bartlett  says.  So  strong 
were  the  muscles  and  so  firm  the  skin  of  Lincoln's  face  that 
even  minor  details  like  the  pores  in  the  skin  made  their  impres- 
sion in  the  soft  plaster  mask  and  reappeared  with  marvelous 
distinctness  in  the  bust  that  was  cast  in  that  mold.  That 
"infallible"  bust  bears  witness  to  Abraham  Lincoln's  rare 
comeliness  and  beauty.  To  look  upon  it  is  to  know  that  in 
form  and  feature  he  was  not  less  attractive  and  pleasing  than 
in  his  inner  nature  which  all  the  world  admires.  The  first 
impression  it  produces  is  thrilling  and  close  examination 
deepens  the  delight  at  first  experienced.  To  an  uncultured 
beholder  it  is  impressive  and  charming,  and  to  the  learned  and 
critical  it  is  grand  and  beautiful. 

Mr.  Bartlett  says  the  mask  shows  "a  knightly  readiness, 
such  as  is  seen  in  the  photos  taken  immediately  after  his  nom- 
ination, and  greatly  beautiful  in  its  human  style  and  gravity." 
"The  upper,  larger  portion  of  Lincoln's  profile  projects  more 
than  is  the  case  with  most  good  faces,  which  was  the  dis- 
tinguishing feature  of  the  best  Greek  faces  over  all  others."22 

21  Portraits  of  Lincoln,  p.  25.  22  Ibid.,  p.  27. 


64     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Borglum  says:  "You  will  find  written  on  his  face  literally 
all  the  complexity  of  his  great  nature." 

Bernard  says:  "Lincoln's  life-mask  is  the  most  wonderful 
face  left  to  us,  a  face  utterly  opposed  to  those  of  the  emperors 
of  Rome  or  a  Napoleon.  They,  with  a  record  of  a  dominating 
will,  self-assertive  over  others;  Lincoln's  commanding  self 
for  the  sake  of  others,  a  spiritual  will  based  on  reason.  His 
powerful  chin  is  flanked  on  either  side  by  powerful  construc- 
tion reaching  like  steps  of  a  pyramid  from  chin  to  ear,  eye 
to  brain,  as  if  his  forces  took  birth  in  thought  within,  con- 
ceived in  architecture  without,  building  to  the  furthermost 
limits  of  his  face,  to  the  fruits  of  toil  in  his  wonderful  hands. 

"One  of  Lincoln's  features  most  expressive  of  his  character 
are  the  ears.  They  are  strangely  beautiful  for  a  man  of  his 
stature.  There  is  no  mark  of  fancy  in  them  but  that  of  fact ; 
nothing  of  the  sensual  in  either  the  ears  or  the  face. 

"Lincoln's  face — what  a  countenance  to  study;  what  a 
horoscope  of  the  man's  noble  character,  determination  and 
humility.  Every  line  and  curve  has  a  meaning — some  out- 
ward reflection  of  the  being  that  lived  within  that  body. 

"The  eyebrows  and  forehead  are  also  wondrous  things. 
There  are  seven  horizontal  lines  in  the  forehead  and  four 
perpendicular  ones — a  marvelous  world  of  thought  behind  each 
delineation." 

These  strong  words  from  distinguished  American  sculp- 
tors are  more  than  sustained  by  statements  from  even  more 
distinguished  artists  in  other  lands. 

In  1877  Mr.  Bartlett  took  a  plaster  copy  of  the  Volk  mask 
to  Paris  to  get  it  cast  in  bronze.  The  instant  he  saw  it  the 
founder  said,  "What  a  beautiful  face !  Why,  it's  more  beauti- 
ful and  has  more  character  than  the  Abbe's,  and  we  think  that 
is  the  handsomest  one  in  France.  What  an  extraordinary  con- 
struction, and  what  fine  forms  it  has."  This  he  said  without 
knowing  whose  mask  it  was.23 

A  number  of  other  sculptors  confirmed  his  opinion  and 

23  Portraits  of  Lincoln,  p.  20. 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN    IN    1848 

From   a   photographic   copy  of   the   original   Daguerreotype  owned   by  Hon. 
Robert  T.  Lincoln  and  undoubtedly  President  Lincoln's  first  picture. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         65 

said:  "It  is  unusual  in  general  construction.  It  has  a  new  and 
interesting  character  and  its  planes  are  remarkably  beautiful 
and  subtle.  If  it  belongs  to  any  type,  it  must  be  a  wonderful 
specimen  of  that  type."24 

Fremiet,  the  great  sculptor,  said:  "It  seems  impossible  that 
a  new  country  like  yours  should  produce  such  a  face.  It  is 
unique."  This  great  and  learned  artist,  without  any  previous 
knowledge  of  Lincoln's  physical  form  and  guided  by  the  mask, 
described  Lincoln's  proportions  and  movements  accurately, 
and  said  to  Mr.  Bartlett,  "You  have  in  hand  a  wonderfully 
interesting  subject.  I  envy  you."25 

All  the  French  sculptors  to  whom  Bartlett  showed  the  life- 
mask  "admired  it  for  the  harmony  of  the  face  with  itself. 
Not  one  of  them  mentioned  any  ugliness,  coarseness  or  flab- 
biness  of  form." 

The  best  French  genre  sculptor  of  modern  times,  after  ex- 
perimenting with  the  mask  for  several  months,  returned  it  to 
Mr.  Bartlett  and  said:  "I  can  do  nothing  with  that  head,  and 
I  doubt  if  any  one  in  these  times  can.  The  more  I  studied  it 
the  more  difficulties  I  found.  The  subtle  character  of  its  forms 
is  beyond  belief.  There  is  no  face  like  it."25 

Photography  is  quite  as  clear  and  unequivocal  as  is  sculp- 
ture in  declaring  that  Abraham  Lincoln's  features  were  beauti- 
ful and  pleasing.  His  earliest  picture  is  a  Daguerreotype  taken 
in  1848  when  he  was  thirty-nine  years  old.  When  that  picture 
was  first  published  it  produced  a  profound  impression.  In 
all  our  country  and  in  Europe  it  was  declared  to  be  "the  picture 
of  a  very  handsome  man."  That  judgment  has  never  been  re- 
versed nor  modified.  The  picture  has  the  Lincoln  features 
without  any  of  the  marks  of  severe  struggles  which  are  seen  in 
later  pictures.  The  features  are  regular  and  harmonious  and 
reveal  great  kindness  of  heart  and  strength  of  purpose.  It 
holds  the  attention  and  leaves  a  vivid  and  deep  impression. 
It  continues  to  hold  its  place  in  public  esteem  and  admiration. 

In  1856  Mr.  Lincoln  visited  Princeton,  Illinois,  for  the 

24  Portraits  of  Lincoln,  p.  20.  25  Ibid.,  p.  21. 


66     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

purpose  of  delivering  a  Fourth  of  July  oration.  He  was,  while 
in  that  city,  the  guest  of  Mr.  John  Howard  Bryant,  brother 
of  William  Cullen  Bryant,  the  distinguished  poet  and  journal- 
ist. During  that  visit  at  Princeton,  Mr.  Lincoln  called  at  the 
McMasters  Studio  and  sat  for  his  picture,  a  copy  of  which  was 
recently  presented  to  me  by  Mrs.  W.  E.  McVey  of  Los 
Angeles,  California,  a  granddaughter  of  John  Howard  Bryant. 
This  photograph  was  taken  by  the  nephew  of  McMasters  who 
on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1856,  took  the  original  picture  from 
life.  As  far  as  known,  this  is  the  only  picture  we  have  of 
Lincoln  taken  during  1856.  Mr.  McMasters  certifies  to  the 
genuineness  of  this  picture  and  to  the  foregoing  facts  concern- 
ing its  origin.  He  states  that  his  uncle,  who  took  the  original 
picture,  frequently  exchanged  negatives  with  Hesler  of 
Chicago  which  he  believes  accounts  for  the  resemblance  of 
this  picture  to  one  understood  to  have  been  taken  by  the 
Chicago  photographer  in  1857.  The  Hesler  picture  may  have 
been  copied  from  the  one  taken  by  McMasters  the  year  before. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  inspiringly  handsome 
picture  than  this  McMasters  photograph.  It  is  a  face  of  fault- 
less structure  with  animation  and  high  purpose  radiating  from 
every  feature.  It  has  all  the  beauty  of  the  earlier  picture  with 
far  more  of  character  and  confidence.  Its  lines  are  not  deep 
as  in  his  pictures  taken  during  his  Presidency  but  they  form 
a  combination  of  irresistible  charm.  It  is  scarcely  less  than  a 
cruel  travesty  to  speak  or  think  of  such  a  man  as  ungainly  and 
awkward. 

The  alertness  shown  in  this  picture  is  also  seen  in  the 
photograph  taken  by  Hesler  in  1860  soon  after  Lincoln's 
nomination  as  a  candidate  for  President.  The  great  debates 
with  Douglas  in  1858,  the  Ohio  speeches,  the  Cooper  Institute 
address  and  the  tour  through  New  England  all  occurred  be- 
tween the  periods  when  these  two  pictures  were  taken  and  are 
all  written  in  his  features  in  this  Hesler  photograph.  These 
three  pictures  should  be  grouped  with  the  Volk  bust  as  they 
all  represent  Mr.  Lincoln  as  he  appeared  when  smooth  shaven. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         67 

There  is  a  striking  resemblance  between  them,  their  most  dis- 
tinctive agreement  being  in  the  impressive  and  harmonious 
beauty  of  each  one. 

On  the  1 9th  of  May,  1860,  the  day  succeeding  the  one  on 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent, Marcus  L.  Ward,  afterward  Governor  of  New  Jersey, 
visited  Springfield  for  the  purpose  of  forming  the  acquaintance 
of  the  nominee,  and  while  there  secured  an  ambrotype  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  taken  at  Mr.  Ward's  request.  On  the  iQth  of  Decem- 
ber, 1 88 1,  Governor  Ward  sent  that  picture  to  The  Century 
Company  for  publication  in  their  magazine.  In  the  letter 
which  accompanied  the  picture,  Governor  Ward  said:  "No 
one,  I  imagine,  will  fail  to  recognize  in  the  expression  of  the 
face  those  noble  qualities  of  the  man — honesty,  gentleness  and 
kind-heartedness — which  so  endeared  him  to  all  who  knew 
him."26 

In  this  picture  is  one  of  the  best  representations  we  have 
of  Lincoln's  hand.  The  tapering  fingers  of  the  hand  that  rests 
upon  the  arm  of  the  chair  fully  justifies  Mr.  Bartlett's  claim 
that  Lincoln's  studies  and  his  production  of  choice  literature 
had  caused  the  muscular  thumb  and  fingers  of  the  rail-splitter 
to  be  transformed  into  those  of  a  man  engaged  in  literary 
pursuits.  Remembering  that  this  picture  was  taken  before  his 
first  election  as  President  one  can  imagine  the  further  trans- 
formation of  his  hands  which  was  wrought  by  the  production 
of  high-class  epistolary  and  official  literature  which  came  from 
his  pen  during  his  Presidency.  The  hand  represented  in  this 
picture  appears  fit  and  worthy  to  write  the  Bixby  letter,  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  the  Gettysburg  Speech,  and  the 
Second  Inaugural  address.  It  is  almost  startling  to  look  at 
that  pendant  hand  with  its  easy  and  graceful  action. 

Having  considered  the  statements  of  distinguished  sculp- 
tors concerning  Mr.  Lincoln's  personal  appearance,  as  shown 
by  the  life-mask  and  bust,  we  will  find  it  highly  interesting  and 
instructive  to  give  attention  to  the  opinions  of  some  writers 

26  Century  Magazine,  Vol.  2,  p.  852. 


68     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

and  others  respecting  his  personal  appearance  as  shown  by 
some  photographs  taken  after  he  began  to  grow  a  beard. 
Borglum  in  telling  of  his  purpose  and  efforts  to  get  into  the 
Lincoln  spirit  before  attempting  to  represent  him  in  marble, 
very  frankly  says:  "I  felt  that  the  accepted  portraits  of  him 
did  not  justify  his  record.  His  life,  his  labors,  his  writings 
made  me  feel  some  gross  injustice  had  been  done  him  in  the 
blind,  careless  use  of  such  phrases  as  ungainly,  uncouth,  vul- 
gar, rude,  which  were  commonly  applied  to  him  by  his  con- 
temporaries. These  popular  descriptions  did  not  fit  the  master 
of  polished  Douglas,  nor  the  man  whose  'intellectual  arro- 
gance' academic  Sumner  resented.  I  did  not  believe  there  ever 
was  a  grotesque  Lincoln.  I  did  not  believe  the  man  who 
could  whip  his  way  to  the  head  of  a  band  of  ruffians,  reason 
his  way  to  the  head  of  a  town  meeting,  inspire  and  fire  a 
nation,  win  and  hold  the  hearts  of  millions,  was  gawky  or 
even  awkward.  No,  Lincoln  was  not  an  awkward  man.  I 
believed  he  had  been  falsely  drawn.  I  believed  if  properly 
seen  and  truly  read  the  compelling  and  enduring  greatness  of 
the  man  would  be  found  written  in  his  own  actions,  in  his 
figure,  in  his  deportment,  in  his  face,  and  that  some  of  his 
compelling  greatness  might  be  put  into  marble."27 

Referring  to  the  pictures  we  have  of  Lincoln,  Borglum 
says:  "Through  these  Lincoln  lives,  lives  as  a  comfort  and 
reality  and  an  example  and  living  inspiration  to  every  mother 
and  every  son  in  America." 

Bartlett  says:  "To  justly  understand  and  appreciate  the 
pictures  of  Lincoln  we  shall  be  obliged  to  put  aside  our  habit- 
ual standard  of  judgment  and  pay  tribute  to  the  inherent 
authority  of  their  own  physical  and  mental  construction." 

The  following  statement  by  Noah  Brooks  of  Lincoln's 
appearance  in  1856  should  be  considered  in  connection  with 
the  McMasters  picture  taken  on  the  Fourth  of  July  of  that 
year.  Mr.  Brooks  could  not  have  wished  for  a  better  illus- 
tration of  his  description  of  Lincoln's  appearance  than  is  this 
2T  Everybody's  Magazine,  Feb.,  1910,  p.  218. 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN    IN    1860 

From  an  original  photograph  by  Hessler,  in  Chicago,  soon  after  his  nomination, 
and  now  in  the  author's  collection. 

(See  page  66) 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         69 

fine  picture.  And  the  artist  who  took  the  picture  could  not 
have  wished  for  a  more  vivid  description  of  his  work  than  is 
this  statement  by  Mr.  Brooks  concerning  Mr.  Lincoln's  ap- 
pearance. Mr.  Brooks  states:  "When  Lincoln  was  on  the 
stump  in  '56  his  face,  though  naturally  sallow,  had  a  rosy 
flush.  His  eyes  were  full  and  bright  and  he  was  in  the  full- 
ness of  health  and  vigor."28 

In  connection  with  the  foregoing  description  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln in  1856  Mr.  Brooks  tells  of  his  appearance  in  1862,  six 
years  later,  as  follows:  "I  shall  never  forget  the  shock  which 
my  first  sight  of  him  gave  me  in  1862.  .  .  .  The  light 
seemed  to  have  gone  out  of  his  eyes,  which  were  sunken  far 
under  his  enormous  brows.  But  there  was  over  his  whole  face 
an  expression  of  sadness  and  a  far-away  look  in  the  eyes, 
which  were  utterly  unlike  the  Lincoln  of  other  days.  .  .  . 
I  was  so  pained  that  I  could  almost  have  shed  tears." 

Yet  during  those  six  years  in  spite  of  the  cares  and  sor- 
rows that  so  marred  his  visage  by  chiselling  great  lines  on  all 
his  features  and  veiling  his  eyes  in  a  mist  of  deep  melancholy, 
Mr.  Lincoln  grew  into  greater  strength  and  comeliness  as  Mr. 
Brooks  in  the  same  article  says:  "I  am  bound  to  say  that  the 
Lincoln  of  1862  did  in  appearance  better  become  the  Presi- 
dential office  than  the  Lincoln  of  1856  could  have  done.  His 
form,  always  angular,  was  fuller  and  more  dignified ;  and  that 
noble  head,  which  is  to  this  day  the  despair  of  painters  and 
sculptors,  appeared  far  nobler  than  when  I  first  saw  him  in 
Illinois."29 

Of  the  picture  of  Lincoln  in  McClellan's  tent  at  Antietam 
Bartlett  says:  "It  is  the  most  unusual  and  strangely  interesting 
of  all  the  pictures  ever  taken  of  him  in  a  sitting  position.  It 
is  an  extreme  illustration  of  good  physical  centralization.  It 
is  sculpturesque  in  its  perfectness  as  a  bas-relief.  Yet  how 
humanly  expressive  in  simplicity  and  directness  of  the  atten- 
tion which  the  President  is  bestowing  upon  his  companion. 
An  essay  could  be  written  about  it.  It  is  vitally  related  to 

28  Scribner's  Magazine,  Vol.  15,  p.  562.  29  Ibid,  562. 


70     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  intellectual  and  human  frame  of  one  of  the  most  wonder- 
ful beings  that  has  appeared  upon  the  earth."30 

In  his  comments  on  several  of  Lincoln's  pictures  taken 
at  McClellan's  headquarters  before  Antietam,  Bartlett  says: 
"These  figures  are  the  most  interesting  ones  I  have  ever  seen 
of  a  man  standing." 

On  the  1 5th  of  November,  1863,  four  days  before  the 
Gettysburg  address,  President  Lincoln,  accompanied  by  Noah 
Brooks,  visited  Gardner's  gallery  in  Washington  and  sat  for 
a  photograph,  the  negative  of  which  was  soon  after  destroyed. 
The  visit  was  made  upon  the  photographer's  request  and  Mr. 
Brooks  was  present  upon  the  invitation  of  the  President.  The 
picture  has  proved  to  be  the  most  remarkable  of  any  full  length 
representation  of  Lincoln  in  a  sitting  position.  It  it  unsur- 
passed in  its  presentation  of  a  man  of  faultless  construction 
and  great  beauty.  This  strong  statement  is  justified  by  the 
picture  itself,  as  all  will  agree  who  give  it  a  careful  examina- 
tion. Mr.  Bartlett  says  of  it: 

"Until  I  saw  this  photograph  in  Washington,  in  December, 
1874,  I  supposed  that  Lincoln  was  as  popularly  described. 
When  I  first  saw  it  I  was  amazed  at  the  difference  between  it 
and  current  tradition.  It  struck  me  as  the  most  original,  easy, 
dignified,  and  impressive  representation  of  a  man  in  a  sitting 
position  I  had  ever  seen.  Years  of  looking  at  it  and  studying 
it  in  comparison  with  many  others  of  the  eminent  men  of 
modern  times  have  confirmed  that  impression. 

"Still  greater  confirmation  I  found  in  the  opinions  of  three 
of  the  greatest  sculptors  of  modern  times,  Fremiet,  Rodin  and 
Aube;  they  were  astonished  at  its  original  and  imposing 
presence.  'It  is  a  new  man;  he  has  tremendous  character,' 
they  said.  Everything  about  this  picture  is  surprisingly  sug- 
gestive and  admirable.  The  head  in  its  massiveness,  the  way  it 
is  poised  on  the  shoulders,  the  lines  of  the  legs  and  arms,  and 
especially  the  bend  of  the  body,  in  spite  of  the  coverings  are 
firm,  fine,  and  easy.  The  kneepans  are  not  over  large  or 

80  Portraits  of  Lincoln,  pp.  33,  34,  35. 


LINCOLN 


1863 


From  a  photograph  taken  in  Washington  on  November  15,  1863,  a  few  days 
before  he  delivered  the  Gettysburg  address. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         71 

shapeless,  nor  do  the  hands  show  any  incongruity  in  mass, 
line,  or  movement.  There  is  nothing  in  the  hang  of  the  clothes 
or  their  lines  and  folds  that  indicates  anything  but  a  well- 
shaped  form  beneath.  No  monarch  ever  sat  with  more  natural 
grace  and  dignity. 

"The  simple,  easy  line  of  the  hand  on  the  table,  and  that 
made  by  the  foot  and  leg  and  the  bend  of  the  knee,  suggest 
quite  the  opposite  of  clumsy  and  awkwardly  constructed  or 
moving  articulations.  It  is  a  great  portrait, — a  great  ready- 
made  statue  or  picture.  As  such  it  ranks  with  the  best  por- 
traits in  any  art,  and  as  far  as  I  know  it  is  absolutely  unique ; 
again,  as  such,  it  means  that  Lincoln's  mind  and  body  not  only 
worked  together  in  perfect  physical  harmony,  but  exemplified 
a  dignified  and  gracious  ease.  He  made  his  own  statue.  It 
is  his  actual  presence,  the  very  life  of  the  man. 

"There  are  many  other  significant  details  in  this  sitting 
portrait,  of  which  a  few  may  be  mentioned.  The  legs  are 
kept  well  together.  Every  action  of  legs,  arms,  hands 
and  feet  is  decisive,  completing  its  intention,  and  all  in 
natural  harmony.  This  is  a  very  important  and  significant 
fact,  so  much  so  that  it  may  be  taken  as  an  ample  starting 
point  for  a  full  consideration  of  Lincoln's  intellectual  construc- 
tion. So  definite  is  the  completion  of  intention  that  the  right 
foot  is  placed  fully  upon  the  floor,  and  the  full  length  of  the 
other  foot  is  also  prone  upon  the  floor.  The  position  of  these 
feet  shows  not  only  a  flexible  but  a  well-formed  articulation. 
This  flexibility  of  ankle  joints  permits  the  left  foot  to  fall 
down,  and  thus  not  only  saves  it  from  being  awkward  by  point- 
ing up  into  the  air,  as  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  feet  in  a 
thousand  would  do,  but  makes  a  fine  line  in  connection  with 
the  leg.  The  size  and  character  of  Lincoln's  feet,  as  shown 
through  his  boots,  are  in  admirable  accord  with  his  body. 
They  are  well  and  forcibly  formed,  and  of  noticeable  im- 
portance as  a  constructive  fact. 

"In  none  of  the  sitting  views  is  there  any  sign  of  a  dis- 
position to  sprawl  or  spread  around,  as  the  majority  of  men 


72     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

do  when  sitting.  No  member,  like  the  hands,  for  instance,  is 
obtrusive.  These  facts  indicate  natural  elegance,  high  style 
in  bodily  action,  and  a  concentrative  physical  economy  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  beauty  and  character  of  Lincoln's  mind."31 

The  best  front  view  of  Lincoln  is  supposed  to  have  been 
taken  on  the  Qth  of  March,  1864,  the  day  General  Grant  re- 
ceived from  him  a  commission  as  Lieutenant-General.  Dur- 
ing the  afternoon  of  the  day  on  which  that  important  event 
occurred  it  is  claimed  the  President  accompanied  General 
Grant  to  a  gallery  where  each  sat  for  his  photograph.  The 
front  view  picture  of  Lincoln  then  taken  was  not  given  to  the 
public  for  many  years  after  his  death  when  the  untouched 
negative  was  accidentally  discovered  and,  as  Colonel  A.  K. 
McClure  states,  "copies  were  printed  from  it  without  a  single 
change  in  the  lines  or  features  of  Lincoln's  face.  It  therefore 
presents  Lincoln  true  to  life."  From  the  time  of  its  appear- 
ance it  has  taken  first  place  among  the  pictures  of  Lincoln, 
receiving  the  highest  praise  from  most  competent  judges  and 
being  by  artists  made  the  basis  for  engravings  and  other  rep- 
resentations of  the  President.  Colonel  McClure  says:  "This 
is  the  only  perfect  copy  of  his  face  I  have  ever  seen  in  any 
picture." 

Bartlett  declares  this  to  be  "the  best  front  view  of  Lin- 
coln," and  "as  a  whole  it  is  probably  the  most  impressively 
proportioned  picture  ever  taken  of  Lincoln.  It  is  all  strange. 
In  no  respect  like  any  other  head.  It  is  a  large  one,  not  in 
inches,  but  in  construction, — a  head  that  will  hold  its  own  in 
space,  in  the  open  air.  In  this  rare  respect  it  belongs  to  the 
few  faces  that  are  inherently  decorative.  It  must  be  estimated 
by  a  standard  authorized  by  itself.  No  such  eyes  were  ever 
seen  in  mortal  head,  and  no  such  setting  was  ever  given  to 
any  other  eyes."  Portraits  of  Lincoln,  p.  29. 

All  of  the  great  French  sculptors  whom  Mr.  Bartlett  con- 
sulted extolled  Lincoln's  face  and  features  as  shown  in  this 
picture  quite  as  strongly  as  they  did  those  which  are  seen  in 

31  Portraits  of  Lincoln,  pp.  32,  33. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         73 

the  life-mask.  The  spell  of  Lincoln's  picture  upon  great 
minds  is  shown  in  a  statement  made  by  George  William  Cur- 
tis to  Dr.  Andrew  D.  White,  during  the  republican  national 
convention  of  1884.  Dr.  White  tells  of  the  incident  as  fol- 
lows: "As  we  came  into  the  convention  on  the  morning  of  the 
day  fixed  for  making  the  nominations,  I  noticed  that  the 
painted  portraits  of  Washington  and  Lincoln,  previously  on 
either  side  of  the  president's  chair,  had  been  removed.  Owing 
to  the  tumultuous  conduct  of  the  crowd  in  the  galleries,  it  had 
been  found  best  to  remove  things  of  an  ornamental  nature 
from  the  walls,  for  some  of  these  ornaments  had  been  thrown 
down,  to  the  injury  of  those  sitting  below. 

"On  my  calling  Curtis's  attention  to  the  removal  of  the 
two  portraits,  he  said:  'Yes,  I  noticed  it,  and  I  am  glad  of  it. 
Those  weary  eyes  of  Lincoln  have  been  upon  us  here  during 
our  whole  stay,  and  I  am  glad  that  they  are  not  to  see  the  work 
that  is  to  be  done  here  to-day.'  It  was  a  curious  exhibition  of 
sentiment,  a  revelation  of  the  deep  poetic  feeling  which  was 
so  essential  an  element  in  Curtis's  noble  character."32 

Other  statements  relative  to  Lincoln's  harmonious,  impres- 
sive and  pleasing  physical  construction  as  shown  by  art  from 
the  authors  herein  quoted,  and  from  other  competent  judges, 
could  be  given  indefinitely,  but  the  foregoing  are  deemed  suffi- 
cient, if  duly  considered,  to  accomplish  the  end  sought,  and 
are  fittingly  followed  by  the  following  forcible  declaration 
by  Borglum :  "Lincoln's  face  is  infinitely  nearer  an  expression 
of  our  Christ  character  than  all  the  conventional  pictures  of 
the  'Son  of  God.'  That  symbolic  head,  with  its  long  hair 
parted  in  the  middle  and  features  that  never  lived,  is  the  crea- 
tion of  artists,  Lincoln's  face  the  triumph  of  God  through  man 
and  of  men  through  God.  One  fancy ;  the  other,  truth  at  labor, 
Lincoln,  the  song  of  democracy  written  by  God." 

The  foregoing  statements  relative  to  Lincoln's  appearance 
as  shown  by  the  life-mask,  bust  and  pictures,  are  fully  con- 
firmed by  equally  strong  declarations  of  persons  who  were 

32  Autobiography,  Vol.  I,  pp.  203,  204. 


74     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

closely  associated  with  him  or  had  occasionally  met  him. 
Nicolay  says:  "Seated  and  viewed  from  the  chest  up,  he  is 
fine  looking.  His  forehead  is  high  and  full,  and  swells  out 
grandly.  His  face  even  in  repose  was  not  unattractive,  and 
when  lit  up  by  his  open,  genial  smile,  or  illuminated  in  the 
utterance  of  a  strong  or  stirring  thought,  his  countenance  was 
positively  handsome. 

"The  question  of  looks  depended  in  Lincoln's  case  very 
much  upon  his  moods.  The  large  framework  of  his  features 
was  greatly  modified  by  the  emotions  which  controlled  them. 
In  a  countenance  of  strong  lines  and  rugged  masses  like 
Lincoln's,  the  lift  of  an  eyebrow,  the  curve  of  a  lip,  the  flash 
of  an  eye,  the  movements  of  prominent  muscles  created  a  much 
wider  facial  play  than  in  rounded  immobile  countenances. 
Lincoln's  features  were  the  despair  of  every  artist  who  under- 
took his  portrait."83 

In  speaking  of  the  impression  made  by  Lincoln  upon  the 
distinguished  men  who  met  him,  Nicolay  wrote:  "The  eyes 
of  these  men  were  not  upon  the  tailor's  suit  of  broadcloth, 
but  upon  the  President  and  the  man,  and  in  such  a  scrutiny 
Lincoln  outranked  any  mortal  whoever  questioned  him  eye  to 
eye  in  his  long  and  strange  career  from  New  Salem  to  the 
Blue  Room  of  the  White  House."34 

F.  B.  Carpenter,  the  artist,  who  spent  six  months  in  the 
White  House,  while  painting  the  famous  picture  of  Lincoln 
and  his  Cabinet,  and  made  a  careful  and  scientific  study  of  the 
President's  features,  says:  "His  eyes  were  bluish  gray  in  color, 
— always  in  deep  shadow,  however,  from  the  upper  lids,  which 
were  unusually  heavy,  and  the  expression  was  remarkably 
pensive  and  tender,  often  inexpressibly  sad,  as  if  the  reservoir 
of  tears  lay  very  near  the  surface."83 

H.  C.  Deming  states  that  "Lincoln's  eyes  were  bright, 
soft,  and  beautiful,"  and  that  his  smile  was  "radiant,  capti- 
vating and  winning  as  was  ever  given  to  mortal." 

33  Century  Magazine,  Vol.  20,  p.  933. 

84  Ibid.,  p.  937.  35  Six  Months  in  the  White  House. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         75 

James  R.  Gilmore  says:  "His  was  the  deepest,  saddest, 
kindliest  eye  I  have  ever  seen  in  a  human  being.  I  never 
knew  a  smile  so  positively  captivating.  It  transfigured  his 
whole  face,  making  his  plain  features  actually  good  looking, 
so  that  I  could  agree  with  Caroline  M.  Kirkland,  who  not  long 
before  had  told  me  that  he  was  the  handsomest  man  she  had 
ever  seen."36 

Andrew  D.  White,  in  describing  his  first  meeting  with 
President  Lincoln,  says:  "As  he  came  toward  us  in  a  sort  of 
awkward,  perfunctory  manner  his  face  seemed  to  me  one  of 
the  saddest  I  had  ever  seen  and  when  he  reached  us  he  held 
out  his  hand  to  the  first  stranger,  then  to  the  second,  and  so 
on,  all  with  the  air  of  a  melancholy  automaton.  But  suddenly, 
some  one  in  the  company  said  something  which  amused  him, 
and  instantly  there  came  in  his  face  a  most  marvelous  trans- 
formation. I  have  never  seen  anything  like  it  in  any  other 
human  being.  His  features  were  lighted,  his  eyes  radiant."87 

In  connection  with  the  foregoing  account  of  the  trans- 
formation of  President  Lincoln's  countenance,  Dr.  White 
continues:  "Years  afterward,  noticing  in  the  rooms  of  his  son, 
Mr.  Robert  T.  Lincoln,  our  minister  at  London,  a  portrait  of 
his  father,  and  seeing  that  it  had  the  same  melancholy  look 
noticeable  in  all  President  Lincoln's  portraits,  I  alluded  to  this 
change  in  his  father's  features,  and  asked  if  any  artist  had  ever 
caught  the  happier  expression.  Mr.  Robert  Lincoln  answered 
that,  so  far  as  he  knew,  no  portrait  of  his  father  in  this  better 
mood  had  ever  been  taken ;  that  when  any  attempt  was  made 
to  photograph  him  or  paint  his  portrait,  he  relapsed  into  his 
melancholy  mood,  and  that  this  is  what  has  been  transmitted 
to  us  by  all  who  have  ever  attempted  to  give  us  his  likeness."38 

This  explains  in  part  one  of  the  reasons  for  the  general 
impression  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  features  were  exceedingly  plain. 
He  was  from  early  life  of  a  deeply  melancholy  nature  and  his 

86  Personal  Recollections,  p.  77. 

87  Autobiography,  Vol.  I,  p.  121. 

38  Autobiography  of  Andrew  D.  White,  Vol.  I,  pp.  121,  122. 


76     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

depressing  meditations  caused  his  comely  features  to  be  some- 
times shrouded  in  gloom.  Hon.  George  D.  Boutwell  says: 
"There  was  at  all  times  when  he  was  not  engaged  in  conversa- 
tion, a  sadness  of  expression  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  countenance 
which  was  very  pathetic."39 

Judge  Henry  C.  Whitney  says:  "The  child  (Lincoln)  was 
often  sad  and  serious.  With  the  earliest  dawn  of  reason,  he 
began  to  suffer  and  endure."40 

"No  element  of  Lincoln's  character  was  so  marked,  obvious 
and  ingrained  as  his  mysterious  and  profound  melancholy. 
My  attention  was  first  drawn  to  this  sad  characteristic,  which 
surprised  me  greatly  at  the  time,  in  the  spring  of  1855,  at  the 
Bloomington  Circuit  court.  I  was  sitting  with  John  T.  Stuart, 
while  a  case  was  being  tried,  and  our  conversation  was,  at  the 
moment,  about  Lincoln,  when  Stuart  remarked  that  he  was  a 
hopeless  victim  of  melancholy.  I  expressed  surprise,  to  which 
Stuart  replied:  'Look  at  him,  now.'  I  turned  a  little  and  there 
beheld  Lincoln  sitting  alone  in  the  corner  of  the  bar,  most 
remote  from  any  one,  wrapped  in  abstraction  and  gloom.  It 
was  a  sad  but  interesting  study  for  me,  and  I  watched  him  for 
some  time.  It  appeared  as  if  he  was  pursuing  in  his  mind  some 
specific,  sad  subject,  regularly  and  systematically,  through 
various  sinuosities,  and  his  sad  face  would  assume,  at  times, 
deeper  phases  of  grief;  but  no  relief  came  from  dark  and 
despairing  melancholy  till  he  was  roused  by  the  breaking  up 
of  court,  when  he  emerged  from  his  cave  of  gloom  and  came 
back,  like  one  awakened  from  sleep,  to  the  world  in  which  he 
lived,  again."41 

This  natural  tendency  to  sorrowful  meditations  was 
strengthened  by  being  indulged  as  it  was  by  Mr.  Lincoln. 
His  efforts  for  temperance  reform  so  enlisted  his  sympathies 
for  the  drunkard  and  for  those  dependent  upon  him,  and  so 
filled  him  with  despair  as  he  contemplated  the  character  and 

89  Tributes,  p.  68. 

40  Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln,  p.  140. 

41  Ibid.,  p.  139. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         77 

strength  of  the  liquor  traffic  that  his  tendencies  to  melan- 
choly became  more  active  and  potential  in  his  nature  and  life. 
Then  came  the  struggle  with  Douglas  which  brought  him  face 
to  face  with  the  evils  of  slavery  and  the  governmental  and 
religious  aspects  of  that  institution  tended  greatly  to  increase 
his  disquietude  of  heart  and  mind.  To  all  this  was  added  his 
all-dominating  sense  of  responsibility  when  he  was  called  to 
the  Presidency  and  his  unspeakable  anguish  of  soul  during  the 
rebellion  that  followed.  Referring  to  this  Mr.  Nicolay  says: 
"About  two  weeks  before  Mr.  Lincoln  left  Springfield  for 
Washington,  a  deep-seated  melancholy  seemed  to  take  pos- 
session of  his  soul.  .  .  .  The  former  Mr.  Lincoln  was  no 
longer  visible  to  me.  His  face  was  transformed  from  mobility 
into  an  iron  mask."42 

Carpenter  tells  of  his  observations  while  painting  the 
famous  Emancipation  picture  as  follows:  "Lines  of  care 
plowed  his  face,  the  hollows  in  his  cheeks  and  under  his  eyes 
being  very  marked.  Absorbed  in  his  papers,  he  would  be- 
come unconscious  of  my  presence,  while  I  intently  studied 
every  line  and  shade  of  expression  in  that  furrowed  face. 
In  repose,  it  was  the  saddest  face  I  ever  knew.  There  were 
days  when  I  could  scarcely  look  into  it  without  crying.  Dur- 
ing the  first  week  of  the  battles  of  the  Wilderness  he  scarcely 
slept  at  all.  Passing  through  the  main  hall  of  the  domestic 
apartment  on  one  of  these  days,  I  met  him,  clad  in  a  long 
morning  wrapper,  pacing  back  and  forth  a  narrow  passage 
leading  to  one  of  the  windows,  his  hands  behind  him,  great 
black  rings  under  his  eyes,  his  head  bent  forward  upon  his 
breast, — altogether  such  a  picture  of  the  effects  of  sorrow, 
care  and  anxiety  as  would  have  melted  the  hearts  of  the  worst 
of  his  adversaries,  who  so  mistakenly  applied  to  him  the 
epithets  of  tyrant  and  usurper.  With  a  sorrow  almost  divine, 
he,  too,  could  have  said  of  the  rebellious  states,  'How  often 
would  I  have  gathered  you  together,  even  as  a  hen  gathered  her 
chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not!'  Like  another 
42  The  Century,  Vol.  20,  p.  933- 


78      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Jeremiah,  he  wept  over  the  desolation  of  the  nation;  he 
mourned  the  slain  of  the  daughters  of  his  people."43 

Carpenter  further  says:  "All  familiar  with  him  will  re- 
member the  weary  air  which  became  habitual  during  his  last 
years.  This  was  more  of  the  mind  than  the  body,  and  no  rest 
and  recreation  which  he  allowed  himself  could  relieve  it.  As 
he  sometimes  expressed  it,  the  remedy  'seemed  never  to  reach 
the  tired  spot.'  "44 

Noah  Brooks  writes  as  follows  of  Lincoln's  looks  when 
he  received  information  of  the  Chancellorsville  disaster:  "I 
shall  never  forget  that  picture  of  despair.  He  held  a  tele- 
gram in  his  hand,  and  as  he  closed  the  door  and  came  forward 
toward  us,  I  mechanically  noticed  that  his  face,  usually  sallow, 
was  ashen  in  hue."45 

John  Hay  says  of  Lincoln's  labors  and  sufferings:  "Under 
this  frightful  ordeal  his  demeanor  and  disposition  changed — 
so  gradually  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  say  when  the 
change  began;  but  he  was  in  mind,  body  and  nerves  a  very 
different  man  at  the  second  inauguration  from  the  one  who 
had  taken  the  oath  in  1861.  He  continued  always  the  same 
kindly,  genial  and  cordial  spirit  he  had  been  at  first;  but  the 
boisterous  laughter  became  less  frequent  year  by  year;  the 
eye  grew  veiled  by  constant  meditation  on  momentous  sub- 
jects; the  air  of  reserve  and  detachment  from  his  surround- 
ings increased.  He  aged  with  great  rapidity. 

"The  change  is  shown  with  startling  distinctness  by  two 
life-masks — the  one  made  by  Leonard  W.  Volk  in  Chicago, 
in  April,  1860,  the  other  by  Clark  Mills  in  Washington,  in  the 
spring  of  1865.  The  first  is  a  man  of  fifty-one,  and  young 
for  his  years.  The  other  is  so  sad  and  peaceful  in  its  infinite 
repose  that  the  famous  sculptor,  Augustus  Saint-Gaudens, 
insisted,  when  he  first  saw  it,  that  it  was  a  death  mask.  The 
lines  are  set,  as  if  the  living  face,  like  the  copy,  had  been  in 
bronze;  the  nose  is  thin  and  lengthened  by  the  emaciation  of 

48  Six  Months  in  the  White  House,  pp.  30,  31. 

44  Ibid.,  p.  217. 

46  Washington  in  Lincoln's  Day,  p.  57. 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         79 

the  cheeks;  the  mouth  is  fixed  like  that  of  an  archaic  statue; 
a  look  as  of  one  on  whom  sorrow  and  care  had  done  their 
worst  without  victory  is  on  all  the  features;  the  whole  ex- 
pression is  of  unspeakable  sadness  and  all-sufficing  strength. 
Yet  the  peace  is  not  the  dreadful  peace  of  death;  it  is  the 
peace  that  passeth  understanding."46 

Lincoln's  native  tendency  to  melancholy  and  his  terrible 
experiences  of  anxiety  and  sorrow  wrote  their  records  very 
legibly  upon  his  strong,  handsome  features.  They  were  nearly 
all  surface  records  which  vanished  as  by  magic  at  the  entrance 
of  animation  or  pleasure,  but  they  remained  as  characteristic 
of  Lincoln's  features  in  the  recollection  of  persons  who  saw 
him  and  never  had  the  good  fortune  to  see  him  smile.  Many 
such  saw  the  expression  in  his  face  of  his  heart's  unutterable 
anxiety  and  anguish  and  did  not  discover  the  beauty  of  the 
face  itself.  The  unfortunate  impressions  this  produced  have 
been  written  into  history  and  have  gone  into  popular  belief 
through  the  malice  of  some  and  the  inexcusable  carelessness 
of  others.  As  an  illustration  of  the  seeming  indifference  to 
truth  of  some  writers  I  will  state  that  there  now  lies  before 
me  a  copy  of  a  widely  circulated  magazine  in  which  appears 
a  picture  of  the  Volk  life-mask,  beneath  which  is  printed  the 
following:  "Life-mask  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  made  by 
Douglas  Volk  at  the  White  House,  in  1863."  In  that  brief 
sentence  there  are  four  distinct  and  definite  statements  only 
one  of  which  is  true,  and  three  of  which  are  inexcusably  false. 
The  picture  is  that  of  the  life-mask  of  Lincoln,  but  it  was 
not  made  by  Douglas  Volk,  but  by  his  father  Leonard  W. 
Volk.  It  was  not  made  in  the  White  House  but  in  Chicago, 
and  it  was  not  made  in  1863  but  in  1860.  Those  errors,  while 
not  seriously  harmful  to  the  memory  of  Lincoln,  are  mislead- 
ing because  they  are  not  true  to  the  facts  they  assume  to 
state  and  they  are  representative  of  the  many  slovenly  state- 
ments by  which  the  public  has  been  led  to  believe  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  gawky,  homely  and  awkward. 

48  Century  Magazine,  Vol.  19,  p.  37. 


8o      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

The  statements  already  set  forth  relative  to  Lincoln's  attire 
when  he  delivered  the  Cooper  Institute  speech,  and  similar 
statements  which  have  appeared  in  books,  pamphlets,  maga- 
zines and  newspapers  are  illustrative  of  the  unfortunate  habit 
of  some  writers  to  reproduce  in  their  publications,  without 
verification,  disparaging  statements  which  others  have  made 
concerning  him. 

We  have  covered  a  wide  range,  and  have  shown  how  in- 
excusable are  all  disparaging  statements  relative  to  Lincoln's 
personal  appearance  when  reproduced  by  present-day  writers. 
There  was  a  time  when  written  descriptions  were  our  only 
source  of  information  as  to  Lincoln's  looks.  There  was  then 
some  excuse  for  the  belief  and  statement  that  he  was  homely, 
but  that  excuse  no  longer  exists  since  the  "infallible"  testimony 
of  art  in  sculpture  and  photography  have  settled  the  question 
of  his  personal  appearance  beyond  the  possibility  of  error  or 
uncertainty. 

In  the  past,  many  statements  by  people  who  had  met  Lin- 
coln were  published  and  were  unfortunately  misleading  in 
their  influence  upon  the  thought  of  the  later  generations.  But 
now,  whoever  wishes  to  know  whether  Lincoln  was  fine  look- 
ing or  homely  has  but  to  consult  his  life-mask  bust  or  one  of 
his  first-class  photographs.  And  the  world  is  now  doing  that 
with  most  satisfactory  results.  Replicas  of  that  bust  are  being 
multiplied  and  are  going  into  schools,  offices  and  homes,  while 
Lincoln's  photographs  are  becoming  plentiful  in  all  the  nation 
and  throughout  the  world. 

Thus  the  unfortunate  errors  of  the  past  are  being  cor- 
rected and  Lincoln  is  coming  into  his  own.  Persons  who  knew 
him  well  understand  why  when  he  was  living,  he  was  so  gen- 
erally regarded  as  homely.  He  had  just  one  unattractive  fea- 
ture— his  lower  lip  was  too  thick  to  be  in  perfect  harmony 
with  his  other  features.  With  most  people  that  lip  was  the 
first  feature  seen  upon  coming  into  his  presence  and  it  usually 
produced  the  impression  that  he  was  of  uncomely  visage. 

My  own  impressions  when  I  first  met  him  in  all  prob- 


LINCOLN'S  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE         81 

ability  were  similar  to  those  experienced  by  others  when  first 
seeing  him  at  close  range.  It  was  at  a  large  gathering  and 
he  was  receiving  the  greetings  of  many  admiring  friends.  As 
I  approached  the  company  there  was  an  opening  in  the  group 
directly  before  me  and  I  saw  him  at  full  length.  Because 
of  the  distance  between  us  I  could  not  distinguish  his 
features  but  his  great  height  and  symmetrical  proportions 
together  with  his  massive  head,  thickly  covered  with  bushy 
black  hair,  gave  him  an  imposing  and  admirable  personal 
appearance.  He  stood  squarely  and  firmly  on  both  feet  which 
were  near  together.  He  was  erect  and  his  bearing  and  move- 
ments were  impressively  dignified  and  graceful.  His  presence 
seemed  august  but  very  attractive,  and  I  yearned  to  feel  the 
grasp  of  his  hand  and  to  hear  his  voice  uttering  words  of 
greeting.  But  as  I  approached  him  and  looked  into  his  face 
that  lower  lip  attracted  and  held  my  attention  and  instantly 
produced  the  unwelcome  and  depressing  impression  that  he 
was  very  homely.  At  that  first  view  I  saw  his  entire  face 
as  he  appears  in  the  front  view  photograph  before  mentioned, 
and  that  one  slightly  uncomely  feature  caused  all  his  face  to 
seem  to  be  unattractive  and  even  homely.  Had  I  seen  him 
but  that  once  I  would  surely  have  carried  away  the  false 
impression  then  produced.  But  when  a  few  moments  later 
I  looked  a  second  time  and  from  a  different  viewpoint,  his 
lower  lip  was  concealed  from  view  by  the  heads  of  people 
standing  near  him,  and  I  could  see  only  those  features  above 
his  mouth  as  they  are  seen  in  the  partly  covered  copy  of  the 
famous  front  view  photograph  and  he  appeared  most  thrill- 
ingly  comely  and  attractive. 

After  that  first  meeting  with  Mr.  Lincoln  I  saw  him  many 
times  but  I  never  again  noticed  that  lower  lip.  My  view  of 
his  face  with  that  feature  concealed,  as  before  stated,  so 
transfixed  my  whole  being  that  from  that  time  whenever  I 
looked  upon  his  face  I  saw  only  the  comely  features.  I  made 
no  effort,  for  it  required  no  effort,  to  have  it  so.  I  simply  did 
not  see  the  uncomely  feature.  I  could  not  see  it  so  entranced 


82      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

was  I  by  the  vision  of  the  strength  and  beauty  of  his  face  which 
at  first  I  did  not  recognize. 

Upon  other  occasions  I  studied  his  face  with  the  care  and 
diligence  of  an  enthusiastic  young  learner,  but  that  lip  did 
not  again  come  under  my  observation  or  my  thought  during 
the  period  of  my  association  with  him.  But  the  recollection 
of  my  impressions  when  I  first  met  him  assure  me  that  his 
heavy  lower  lip  was  responsible  for  the  belief  that  he  was 
extremely  homely. 

But,  as  Bartlett  says,  "It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the 
right  kind  of  a  thick  lower  lip  is  a  physiognomical  mark  of  sen- 
sitiveness and  tenderness  of  nature."47 

This  statement  of  the  distinguished  sculptor  is  peculiarly 
applicable  to  Abraham  Lincoln.  His  habits  of  profound  and 
prolonged  meditation  usually  resulted  in  painful  melancholy 
which  never  failed  to  be  revealed  in  the  expressions  of  his 
countenance.  And  the  lower  lip  was  the  one  feature  that 
most  fully  and  faithfully  disclosed  the  anguish  of  his  soul 
and  it  therefore  grew  into  an  expressive  symbol  of  the  great 
tenderness  of  his  nature  and  his  deep  sympathy  with  human 
suffering  and  sorrow. 

Had  Lincoln's  melancholy  been  accompanied  by  a  spirit  of 
resentment  or  of  self-assertion  and  defense  that  lip  would  have 
been  held  firm  in  its  place  and  kept  thin  as  were  the  lips  of 
Jackson,  who  also  knew  anxiety  and  sorrow  but  was  never  de- 
spondent nor  tenderly  sympathetic.  Lincoln's  depression  arose 
from  the  kindness  of  his  heart  and  his  deep  and  tender 
sympathy  and  hence  "his  plainest  feature,"  as  Carpenter 
designates  his  mouth,  was  "expressive  of  much  firmness  and 
gentleness." 

47  Portraits  of  Lincoln,  p.  25, 


s 

o 

an 


^  s 

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ff 

IS 


_g  I 

'o  5 
II 


8  of 

Z    =2 


Ill 

s- 

THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  * 

TO  the  re-election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  President, 
and  the  final  overthrow  of  the  Rebellion,  the  Jaquess- 
Gilmore  Embassy  of  1863-64  contributed  more  largely 
than  did  any  other  single  effort  of  individuals,  or  any  one 
achievement  or  act  of  the  Government  during  that  period. 

Having  been  an  active  participant  in  the  struggles  of  that 
Presidential  campaign  and  having  given  the  history  of  that 
mission  careful  consideration  for  more  than  half  a  century, 
I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  disclosures  secured  by 
that  embassy  and  widely  published  at  the  crisis  hour  of  that 
contest,  turned  the  tide  of  battle  and  saved  the  nation  from  the 
ruinous  defeat  of  President  Lincoln  and  the  dissolution  of  the 
Union. 

The  story  of  that  unique  mission  and  of  its  decisive  influ- 
ence in  the  Presidential  campaign  is  here  told  with  painstak- 
ing fidelity  and,  to  be  rightfully  appreciated,  it  should  be  read 
in  its  entirety.  The  hero  of  that  embassy, 

COLONEL  JAMES  F.  JAQUESS, 

of  the  73rd  Illinois  Volunteers,  was  a  rare  man.  He  lived 
with  his  head  above  the  clouds  while  his  feet  were  on  solid 
ground;  he  lived  in  the  eternal  while  he  wrought  with  tre- 
mendous force  in  the  activities  of  earth.  He  was  a  prominent 
minister  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  a  distin- 
guished college  president  before  the  Rebellion,  and  in  the 
pulpit  he  was  a  Boanerges,  a  "Son  of  Thunder,"  and  his 

*  All  the  quotations  in  this  Chapter  which  are  not  otherwise  desig- 
nated, are  from  "Personal  Recollections  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  the 
Civil  War,"  by  Mr.  James  R.  Gilmore,  and  appear  in  this  volume  by 
permission  of  his  publishers,  L.  C.  Page  &  Company,  of  Boston,  Mass. 

83 


84     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

gospel  messages  were  like  oral  proclamations  by  Jehovah.  He 
seemed  to  live  in  constant  fellowship  with  the  Most  High, 
and  to  be  an  utter  stranger  to  worldly  considerations  and 
motives  while  obeying  the  commands  of  God.  He  was  as 
loving  and  gentle  as  a  devoted  mother  in  dealing  with  the 
weak  and  erring,  but  he  would  dash  with  fearless  fury  into 
battle  as  if  hurled  by  an  invisible  catapult  against  the  forces 
of  unrighteousness.  To  him  the  entreaties  of  the  gospel, 
the  denunciations  of  the  law,  and  the  violence  of  war,  were 
alike  the  agencies  of  God  in  the  furtherance  of  His  cause. 

President  Lincoln  had  for  more  than  twenty-five  years 
known  Colonel  Jaquess  as  a  very  successful  minister  of  the 
gospel,  and  when  in  May,  1863,  he  first  learned  of  the  pro- 
posed Embassy  of  Peace,  he  said:  "I  know  Jaquess  well.  He  is 
remarkably  level-headed.  I  never  knew  a  man  more  so."  He 
"is  cool,  deliberate,  God-fearing,  of  exceptional  sagacity  and 
worldly  wisdom." 

General  W.  S.  Rosecrans,  who  at  the  time  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  with  headquarters  at 
Murfreesboro,  Tenn.,  in  conversation  with  Mr.  James  R.  Gil- 
more,  spoke  of  Colonel  Jaquess  as  "one  of  my  best  and  bravest 
officers."  "As  to  his  life,  he  takes  the  right  view  about  it. 
He  considers  it  already  given  to  the  country.  If  you  had 
seen  him  at  Stone  River  you  would  think  so."  "He  is  a  hero, 
John  Brown  and  Chevalier  Bayard  rolled  into  one,  and  polished 
up  with  common  sense  and  a  knowledge  of  Greek,  Latin  and 
the  mathematics."1 

Colonel  Jaquess  as  he  appeared  at  the  time  of  making  his 
proposition  is  described  as  "a  little  above  the  medium  height, 
with  gray  hair  and  beard,  and  high,  open  forehead,  and  a  thin 
marked  face  expressing  great  earnestness,  strength  and  be- 
nignity of  character." 

General  James  A.  Garfield,  afterwards  President,  said  of 
Colonel  Jaquess:    "He  is  most  solemnly  in  earnest  and  has 
great  confidence  in  the  result  of  his  mission." 
1  James  R.  Gilmore,  "Down  in  Tennessee,"  p.  240. 


COLONEL  JAMES   F.   JAQUESS 
The  hero  of  the  Jaquess-Gilmore  Mission. 

Courtesy  L.  C.  Page  &  Company,  Boston. 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  85 

COLONEL  JAQUESS'  PROPOSITION 

On  May  iQth,  1863,  Colonel  Jaquess  at  Murfreesboro, 
Tenn.,  requested  permission  to  visit  Richmond,  for  the 
*  purpose,  as  he  said,  of  securing  from  Jefferson  Davis  and 
those  associated  with  him  in  the  Confederate  Government, 
"terms  of  peace  that  the  Government  will  accept."  This 
application  was  first  made  to  General  Garfield,  who,  at  the 
time,  was  chief-of-staff  to  General  Rosecrans,  in  whose  army 
Colonel  Jaquess  was  serving.  General  Garfield  approved  of 
the  proposed  mission  of  peace  and  submitted  Colonel 
Jaquess'  request  to  General  Rosecrans. 

Of  his  proposed  mission  Colonel  Jaquess  said:  "I  want  to 
go  to  them  (the  Confederates)  to  offer  them  the  olive  branch; 
to  tell  them  in  the  name  of  God  and  the  country  that  they 
will  be  welcomed  back.  ...  I  do  not  know  what  their 
views  are;  it  is  not  my  business  to  ask.  I  feel  that  God  has 
laid  upon  me  the  duty  to  go  to  them  and  go  I  must,  unless 
my  superiors  forbid  it. 

"I  propose  no  compromise  with  traitors,  but  their  imme- 
diate return  to  their  allegiance  to  God  and  their  country.  It 
is  no  part  of  my  business  to  discuss  the  probability  or  the 
possibility  of  the  accomplishment  of  this  work." 

When  asked  how  he  would  go,  Colonel  Jaquess  said: 
"Openly,  in  my  uniform  as  the  messenger  of  God."  When 
told  that  he  might  be  shot  as  a  spy,  he  said:  "It  is  not  for 
me  to  ask  what  they  will  do.  I  have  only  to  go."  When 
told  that  his  life  was  too  valuable  to  be  wasted  on  such  an 
Embassy  he  replied:  "That  is  not  for  you  to  judge." 

It  will  be  observed  that  Colonel  Jaquess'  proposition  was 
not  to  go  to  the  Confederate  leaders,  in  the  name  or  by  the 
authority  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  but  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  God  Almighty,  and  in  His  name  and  by  His 
authority,  to  demand  of  those  leaders  a  cessation  of  hostilities 
and  a  submission  to  the  authority  of  the  Government.  In  all 
his  letters  and  in  his  conversation  relative  to  the  matter  he 


86     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

states  his  motive  and  purpose  in  unequivocal  and  unqualified 
terms. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  what  Mr.  Lincoln  and  others  who 
encouraged  this  mission  hoped  that  it  might  accomplish. 
General  Rosecrans  in  introducing  this  matter  to  the  President 
said:  "After  maturely  weighing  his  plans  and  considering  well 
his  character,  I  am  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  the  public 
interests  will  be  promoted  by  permitting  him  to  go  as  he  pro- 
poses. I  do  not  anticipate  the  results  that  he  seems  to  expect ; 
^but  I  believe  that  a  moral  force  will  be  generated  by  his 
mission  that  will  more  than  compensate  us  for  his  temporary 
absence  from  his  regiment."  "The  terms  he  will  offer  may 
not  be  accepted,  but  it  will  strengthen  our  moral  position 
to  offer  them.  It  will  show  the  world  that  we  do  not  seek  to 
subjugate  the  South." 

During  his  first  interview  with  Mr.  Gilmore  relative  to 
this  mission,  late  in  May,  1863,  President  Lincoln  said:  "Some- 
thing will  come  out  of  it,  perhaps  not  what  Jaquess  expects, 
but  what  will  be  of  service  to  the  right." 

These  preliminary  statements  respecting  Colonel  Jaquess 
and  his  proposition  are  here  made  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
that  the  hero  of  this  mission  was  not  a  religious  fanatic,  as 
his  strange  proposition  might  seem  to  indicate,  but  was  a  man 
of  such  exalted  nature  and  practical  common  sense  as  to  be 
held  in  high  esteem  by  President  Lincoln  and  other  prominent 
men. 

MR.  JAMES  R.  GILMORE, 

who  was  identified  with  the  Jaquess  Mission  from  the  first, 
who  accompanied  the  Colonel  on  his  second  trip  to  the  South, 
in  July,  1864,  was  with  him  during  the  interview  with  Jef- 
ferson Davis,  and  in  his  excellent  work  above  referred  to 
gives  the  history  of  this  mission,  was  a  man  of  exceptional 
worth  and  reputation.  His  ability  as  a  lecturer  and  author, 
and  his  great  sacrifices  and  labors  for  the  Union  cause  gave 
him  high  standing  with  President  Lincoln  and  with  leading 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  87 

men  throughout  the  nation.  He  was  a  distinguished  magazine 
writer  and  publisher,  and  was  one  of  Horace  Greeley's  most 
intimate  and  trusted  editorial  associates,  and  at  the  time  of 
the  Jaquess-Gilmore  embassy,  he  was  on  the  editorial  staff 
of  the  New  York  Tribune.  When  this  mission  was  first  pro- 
posed by  Colonel  Jaquess  in  May,  1863,  Mr.  Gilmore  was 
with  General  Rosecrans  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Army  of 
the  Cumberland,  at  Murfreesboro,  Tenn.,  on  an  important 
mission  for  Mr.  Greeley. 

It  is  fortunate  that  two  men  of  such  exceptional  character 
and  integrity,  so  utterly  unlike  and  yet  forming  such  a  com- 
bination of  rare  excellence  as  did  Colonel  Jaquess  and  Mr. 
Gilmore,  were  united  in  this  important  movement,  and  that 
from  the  one  most  fitted  for  that  service  we  have  a  history  of 
the  affair,  so  trustworthy  and  complete,  and  so  full  of  thrill- 
ing interest  and  instruction,  as  is  the  story  of  this  movement 
in  Mr.  Gilmore's  "Personal  Recollections  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln." 

General  Rosecrans  was  compelled  to  be  at  the  front  dur- 
ing the  day  Colonel  Jaquess'  application  of  May  iQth,  1863, 
was  received,  and,  therefore,  requested  Mr.  Gilmore  to  meet 
the  Colonel,  who  was  to  call  at  headquarters  that  day,  to 
hear  his  proposition  and  report  his  impressions  relative  to  the 
matter.  It  was  in  this  way  that  Mr.  Gilmore  was  brought 
into  this  movement. 

When  General  Rosecrans  returned  from  the  front  to  his 
headquarters  Mr.  Gilmore  reported  to  the  General  and  ex- 
pressed to  him  his  disapproval  of  the  Jaquess'  proposition. 
But  General  Rosecrans  knew  Colonel  Jaquess  as  Mr.  Gilmore 
did  not;  he  had  seen  him  in  camp,  in  counsel,  and  in  battle, 
and  disregarding  Mr.  Gilmore's  unfavorable  recommenda- 
tions, General  Rosecrans  wired  President  Lincoln  stating  in 
brief  Colonel  Jaquess'  proposition,  and  requesting  for  him  a 
furlough  and  passes  to  carry  out  his  mission. 


88     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  REFUSAL  AND  REQUEST 

In  response  to  this  request  the  President  at  once  sent  Gen- 
eral Rosecrans  the  following  telegram:2 

Washington,  May  2ist,  1863,  4:  40  P.M. 
Major-General  Rosecrans: 

For  certain  reasons  it  is  thought  best  for  Rev.  Dr. 
Jaquess  not  to  come  here.  Present  my  respects  to  him  and 
ask  him  to  write  me  fully  on  the  subject  he  has  in  contem- 
plation. A.  LINCOLN. 

There  is  great  significance  in  the  above  request  by  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  for  fuller  information  respecting  Colonel 
Jaquess'  proposition.  He  was  burdened  almost  beyond  en- 
durance with  cares  and  duties  which  he  could  not  put  aside, 
and  from  which  he  could  not  be  relieved,  and  he  was  con- 
stantly besieged  by  .persons  making  requests,  to  which  he 
could  not  possibly  give  attention.  Well-meaning  people  of 
all  classes  were  persistently  commending  to  him  utterly  im- 
practicable schemes  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war  or  the 
hastening  of  peace;  and  yet  in  the  midst  of  this  avalanche 
of  suggestions  and  requests,  Mr.  Lincoln  saw  in  this  seem- 
ingly absurd  proposition  of  Colonel  Jaquess  something  which 
arrested  and  held  his  attention,  and  so  awakened  his  deep 
interest  as  to  cause  him  to  ask  for  full  information  relative  to 
the  matter. 

This  most  remarkable  request  of  the  busy,  burdened  and 
almost  distracted  President  has  a  double  meaning.  It  bears 
witness  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  constant  attitude  of  religious  expec- 
tancy. With  all  his  heart  and  soul  he  believed  that  God  had 
chosen  him  to  lead  the  nation  at  this  period  of  appalling  peril 
and  that  He  would  guide  him  in  a  work  as  difficult  as  ever 
taxed  the  efforts  and  energies  of  man.  And  he  was  constantly 
alert  in  listening  for  the  inner  voice  and  in  watching  for  any 
2  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  280. 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  89 

indications  by  which  the  Most  High  would  reveal  to  him  his 
path  of  duty.  Never  could  it  be  more  truly  said  of  any 
human  being  than  could  at  this  time  be  said  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln that  his  eyes  waited  upon  the  Lord  "As  the  eyes  of 
servants  look  unto  the  hand  of  their  masters,  and  as  the  eyes 
of  a  maiden  unto  the  hand  of  her  mistress"3  so  that  when  this 
Jaquess  proposition  came  to  him,  like  the  midnight  visit  of  a 
heavenly  messenger,  it  found  him  eager  to  learn  its  purport. 

He  believed  that  he  was  being  led  of  God,  and  that  the 
nation  with  all  its  interests  was  also  under  divine  guardian- 
ship and  guidance;  but  there  was  great  darkness  throughout 
the  land.  There  was  probably  no  period  during  the  war  when 
the  outlook  in  the  field  was  more  unpromising  than  at  this 
time  in  the  early  summer  of  1863.  To  his  watchful  eye  there 
appeared  no  dawning  of  a  day  of  glad  deliverance ;  to  his  lis- 
tening ear  there  came  no  voice  of  divine  assurance  or  encour- 
agement. But  Mr.  Lincoln's  faith  was  based  upon  the  prom- 
ises of  God  and  he  believed  that  at  His  own  time,  and  in  His 
own  way,  the  Almighty  would  interpose  and  bring  deliverance 
to  the  nation.  Hence,  on  that  2Oth  day  of  May,  1863,  when 
he  received  from  General  Rosecrans  a  brief  telegraphic  state- 
ment of  Colonel  Jaquess'  proposition,  he  was  hopeful  that  the 
Lord  had  given  to  this  Christian  soldier  the  message  for  which 
he  was  anxiously  listening.  The  sublime  religious  character 
of  the  proposition  and  the  confidence  in  God  which  it  indicated 
elicited  Mr.  Lincoln's- deep  interest  and  awakened  his  ardent 
sympathy  with  the  proposed  movement. 

But  quite  as  potent  to  arouse  and  stimulate  the  interest 
of  the  President  as  the  proposition  of  Colonel  Jaquess  was 
Colonel  Jaquess  himself.  Mr.  Lincoln  believed  thoroughly 
in  his  sagacity,  courage  and  faith.  He  knew  with  what  mas- 
terly ability,  wisdom  and  resourcefulness  he,  as  pastor,  had 
wrought  in  Springfield,  and  he  was  predisposed  to  give  cre- 
dence to  his  claim  that  God  had  put  upon  his  heart  the  prose- 
cution of  this  strange  embassy  of  peace.  Mr.  Lincoln  knew 
3Psa.  123:2. 


90     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

that  Colonel  Jaquess  "walked  with  God,"  as  few  men  of  his 
acquaintance  did,  and  that  his  close  and  constant  communion 
with  his  Master  enabled  him  to  hear  His  whispered  words  of 
confidential  counsel  and  instruction  as  did  the  beloved  disciple 
who  leaned  upon  the  Saviour's  breast. 

There  is  more  than  confidence  and  esteem,  there  is  strong 
and  tender  affection  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  request,  "Give  my  re- 
spects to  him."  That  simple  sentence  as  Mr.  Lincoln  used 
it  has  in  it  a  whole  volume  of  meaning. 

But  Mr.  Lincoln  was  apprehensive  that  if  Colonel 
Jaquess'  proposed  embassy  of  peace  received  the  signet  of  his 
approval  as  President  it  would  have  the  appearance  of  an 
official  recognition  of  the  Confederate  authorities  as  a  sepa- 
rate government  with  which  he  was  conducting  negotiations 
for  peace;  and  even  the  appearance  of  such  a  recognition  he 
was  steadfastly  and  consistently  determined  to  avoid. 

Because  of  that  determination  to  which  he  continuously 
adhered  Mr.  Lincoln  declined  to  grant  Colonel  Jaquess'  re- 
quest for  permission  to  visit  Washington.  It  is  significant, 
however,  that  while  refusing  to  confer  with  Colonel  Jaquess 
personally  relative  to  his  proposition,  he  did  not  refuse  to 
encourage  and  aid  the  proposed  embassy  of  peace.  In  this, 
as  in  all  of  President  Lincoln's  relations  to  this  movement, 
there  was  revealed  his  double  purpose  of  having  Colonel 
Jaquess  visit  Richmond  as  he  proposed,  but  of  having  him 
do  so  without  any  manifestation  of  governmental  approval. 
These  two  purposes  so  seemingly  in  conflict,  and  yet  so  fully 
in  accord,  are  seen  at  every  stage  of  these  proceedings.  To 
accomplish  these  two  results  Mr.  Lincoln  made  provision  in 
his  first  telegram  to  General  Rosecrans  relative  to  the  matter, 
by  requesting  Colonel  Jaquess  to  explain  his  purposes  in  writ- 
ing while  declining  to  permit  him  to  visit  Washington  in  the 
interest  of  the  movement. 

When,  on  May  2ist,  1863,  General  Rosecrans  received 
the  telegram  from  President  Lincoln  declining  to  grant  Col- 
onel Jaquess'  request,  and  asking  for  written  information 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  91 

relative  to  his  proposition,  he  at  once  forwarded  to  the  Presi- 
dent Colonel  Jaquess'  letter  of  May  iQth,  and  at  the  same 
time  sent  the  President's  telegram  to  the  Colonel  at  the  head- 
quarters of  his  regiment  in  Murf reesboro. 

General  Rosecrans  evidently  expected  that  when  Colonel 
Jaquess  confronted  Mr.  Lincoln's  prompt  refusal  of  his  re- 
quest, he  would  abandon  his  proposed  mission;  but  he  had 
not  yet  fully  measured  the  unyielding  determination  of  this 
consecrated  Christian  soldier,  nor  the  extent  to  which  his  mind 
and  heart  were  set  upon  the  prosecution  of  this  mission.  The 
determination  of  Colonel  Jaquess  to  prosecute  this  mission 
was  like  a  mountain  stream  which  rises  higher  and  higher 
until  it  pours  its  crystal  waters  over  the  dam  which  is  erected 
to  arrest  its  progress.  It  was  augmented  rather  than  dimin- 
ished by  the  President's  refusal.  Nothing  could  have  been 
more  characteristic  of  the  Colonel  than  his  answer  to  the 
General's  intimation  that  because  of  the  President's  refusal 
to  grant  his  request  the  work  could  not  be  prosecuted ;  and  his 
insisting  that  the  General's  request  for  the  furlough  and  passes 
should  be  renewed  and  that  Mr.  Gilmore  personally  should 
visit  the  President  and  urge  him  to  consent  to  the  movement. 
This  suggestion  seemed  so  preposterous  to  Mr.  Gilmore  that 
according  to  his  own  statement  he  burst  into  a  hearty  laugh, 
by  which  he  intended  to  indicate  his  unwillingness  to  engage  in 
such  a  mission.  But  he  was  instantly  sobered  by  General  Rose- 
crans' prompt  reply:  "Yes,  that  is  it.  You  must  go."  So,  ar- 
rangements were  made  for  Mr.  Gilmore  to  visit  the  President 
at  Washington,  and  personally  to  hand  him  a  letter  addressed 
to  him  from  Colonel  Jaquess,  together  with  the  following 
letter  from  General  Rosecrans: 

Headquarters  Department  of  the  Cumberland, 

Murf  reesboro,  Tenn.,  May  2ist,  1863. 
To  his  Excellency,  the  President  of  the  United  States: 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Jaquess,  Colonel  commanding  the  73rd 
Illinois,  a  man  of  character,  has  submitted  to  me  a  letter 


92     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

proposing  a  personal  mission  to  the  South.  After  maturely 
weighing  his  plans,  and  considering  well  his  character,  I  am 
decidedly  of  opinion  that  the  public  interests  will  be  promoted 
by  permitting  him  to  go  as  he  proposes. 

I  do  not  anticipate  the  results  that  he  seems  to  expect, 
but  I  believe  a  moral  force  will  be  generated  by  his  mission 
that  will  more  than  compensate  us  for  his  temporary  absence 
from  his  regiment. 

His  letter  is  herein  enclosed,  and  the  bearer  of  this,  Mr. 
Gilmore,  can  fully  explain  Colonel  Jaquess'  plans  and 
purposes. 

Very  respectfully, 

W.  S.  ROSECRANS,  Major-General. 

This  letter  to  the  President  was  written  by  General  Rose- 
crans  on  May  2ist,  1863,  after  he  had  received  Mr.  Lincoln's 
telegram  of  the  same  date,  and  had  held  a  conference  with 
Mr.  Gilmore  and  the  Colonel  relative  to  its  contents.  Colonel 
Jaquess'  letter  to  the  President  was  dated  two  days  later,  and 
is  as  follows: 

Murfreesboro,  Tenn.,  May  23,  1863. 
Hon.  A.  Lincoln,  President,  U.  S.  A. : 

My  dear  Sir — This,  with  other  papers,  will  be  handed 
to  you  by  Mr.  Gilmore,  who  has  been  introduced  to  me  by 
General  Rosecrans.  Mr.  G.  will  explain  to  you  in  full  what 
I  propose  to  do.  Meanwhile,  should  you  feel  that  my  propo- 
sition is  too  strong,  and  cannot  be  realized,  I  would  say,  I  may 
not  be  able  to  reach  the  specific  object  stated  in  the  proposition, 
but  the  mission  cannot  fail  to  accomplish  great  good. 

It  is  a  fact  well  known  to  me  and  others,  perhaps  to  your- 
self, that  much  sympathy  exists  in  the  minds  of  many  good 
people,  both  in  this  country  and  England,  for  the  South,  on 
the  ground  of  their  professed  piety.  They  say,  "Mr.  Davis 
is  a  praying  man,"  "many  of  his  people  are  devotedly  pious," 
etc.,  etc.  Now,  you  will  admit  that,  if  they  hear  me,  I  have 
gained  a  point.  On  the  other  hand,  if  Mr.  Davis  and  his  asso- 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  93 

dates  in  rebellion  refuse  me,  coming  to  them  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  on  a  mission  of  peace,  the  question  of  their  piety  is 
settled  at  once  and  forever.  Should  I  be  treated  with  violence, 
and  cast  into  prison,  shot  or  hanged — which  may  be  part  of 
my  mission — then  the  doom  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  is 
sealed  on  earth  and  in  heaven  forever.  My  dear  Mr.  Lin- 
coln will  excuse  me  when  I  say  that  I  am  ready  for  any 
emergency,  and  though  not  Samson,  I  should,  like  him,  slay 
more  at  my  death  than  in  all  my  life  at  the  head  of  my  regi- 
ment. No,  the  mission  cannot  fail.  God's  hand  is  in  it.  I 
am  not  seeking  a  martyr's  crown,  but  simply  to  meet  the  duty 
that  has  been  laid  upon  me. 

I  have  talked  freely  with  Mr.  Gilmore,  and  he  will  explain 
to  you  more  fully,  if  you  desire.    To  him  I  would  refer  you, 
and  with  my  best  wishes  and  prayers,  I  am,  dear  sir, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  F.  JAQUESS, 
Colonel  Com'd'g  73d  Illinois  Infantry. 

With  the  foregoing  letters  from  General  Rosecrans  and 
from  Colonel  Jaquess,  Mr.  Gilmore,  at  the  General's  request, 
proceeded  to  Washington;  but  travel  in  those  war  times  was 
very  difficult  and  slow,  and  before  he  reached  that  city,  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  had  received,  by  mail,  Colonel  Jaquess'  letter  of 
May  i  Qth,  and  on  the  28th  had  written  General  Rosecrans  say- 
ing: "Such  a  mission  as  he  proposes  I  think  promises  good  if  it 
were  free  from  difficulties,  which  I  fear  it  cannot  be.  First 
he  cannot  go  with  any  Government  authority  whatever.  This 
is  absolute  and  imperative.  Secondly,  if  he  goes  without 
authority  he  takes  a  great  deal  of  personal  risk — he  may  be 
condemned  and  executed  as  a  spy. 

"If  for  any  reason  you  think  fit  to  give  Colonel  Jaquess 
a  furlough,  and  any  authority  from  me  for  that  object  is 
necessary,  you  hereby  have  it  for  any  length  of  time  you 
see  fit." 

Without  any  knowledge  of  the  above  letter  from  the  Pres- 


94      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ident,  Mr.  Gilmore  on  the  last  of  May,  gave  President  Lin 
coin  the  foregoing  letters  from  General  Rosecrans  and  Colonel 
Jaquess,  and  during  the  long  interview  which  followed  Mr. 
Lincoln  said: 

"I  fear  we  can  come  to  no  adjustment.  I  fear  the  war 
must  go  on  till  the  North  and  South  have  both  drunk  of  the 
cup  to  the  very  dregs,  till  both  have  worked  out  in  pain  and 
grief  and  bitter  humiliation  the  sin  of  two  hundred  years. 
It  has  seemed  to  me  that  God  so  wills  it;  and  the  first  gleam 
I  have  had  of  a  hope  to  the  contrary  is  in  this  letter  of 
Jaquess.  This  thing,  irregular  as  it  is,  may  mean  that  the 
Higher  Powers  are  about  to  take  a  hand  in  this  business  and 
bring  about  a  settlement. 

"I  want  peace.  I  want  to  stop  this  terrible  waste  of  life 
and  property,  and  I  know  Colonel  Jaquess  well,  and  I  see 
that  working  in  the  way  he  proposes  he  may  be  able  to  bring 
influences  to  bear  upon  Davis  that  he  cannot  well  resist,  and 
thus  pave  the  way  for  an  honorable  settlement.  .  .  .  He 
proposes  here  to  speak  to  them  in  the  name  pf  the  Lord;  and 
he  says  he  feels  that  God's  hand  is  in  it,  and  He  has  laid  the 
duty  upon  him.  Now,  if  he  feels  that  he  has  that  kind  of 
authority,  he  cannot  fail  to  affect  the  element  on  which  he 
expects  to  operate.  .  .  .  Such  talk  in  you  or  me  might 
sound  fanatical,  but  in  Jaquess  it  is  simply  natural  and  sincere. 
And  I  am  not  at  all  sure  that  he  is  not  right.  God  selects 
His  own  instruments  and  sometimes  they  are  queer  ones,  for 
instance,  He  chose  me  to  steer  the  ship  through  a  great  crisis. 
.  .  .  He  (Jaquess)  can  do  no  more  than  open  the  door 
for  further  negotiations,  which  would  have  to  be  conducted 
with  me  here  in  a  regular  way. 

"Here  is  a  man,  cool,  deliberate,  God-fearing,  of  excep- 
tional sagacity  and  worldly  wisdom,  who  undertakes  a  project 
that  strikes  you  and  me  as  utterly  chimerical;  he  attempts  to 
bring  about,  single-handed  and  on  his  own  hook,  a  peace  be- 
tween two  great  sections.  Moreover,  he  gets  it  into  his  head 
that  God  has  laid  this  work  upon  him,  and  he  is  willing  to 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  95 

stake  his  life  upon  that  conviction.  The  impulse  on  him  is 
overpowering,  as  it  was  upon  Luther,  when  he  said,  'God 
help  me.  I  can  do  no  otherwise.' 

"Can  you  account  for  this  except  on  his  own  supposition 
that  God  is  in  it.  And  if  that  be  so,  something  will  come  out 
of  it,  perhaps  not  what  Jaquess  expects,  but  what  will  be  of 
service  to  the  right.  So,  though  there  is  risk  about  it,  I  shall 
let  him  go." 

THE  FIRST  EMBASSY 

And  Colonel  Jaquess  went.  Without  having  seen  the 
President,  without  any  commission  or  authority  from  the 
government,  without  a  convoy  or  companion,  but  with  unques- 
tioning confidence  in  his  divine  call  and  commission,  early  in 
July,  1863,  he  courageously  entered  upon  and  prosecuted  his 
remarkable  mission. 

That  this  mission  might  not  have  the  appearance  of  a 
recognition  of  the  Confederate  Government,  the  President 
insisted  that  knowledge  of  the  proposition  should  be  limited 
to,  and  held  in  strict  confidence  by  the  only  persons  who  had 
any  information  respecting  it.  Those  persons  were  President 
Lincoln,  Generals  Rosecrans,  Thomas  and  Garfield,  Colonel 
Jaquess  and  Mr.  Gilmore.  Apart  from  these  six  persons  no 
one  at  that  time  had  any  knowledge  or  intimation  of  the 
existence  of  this  unique  mission.  Subsequent  events  required 
that  two  and  possibly  three  army  officers,  whose  co-operation 
was  needed,  be  informed  respecting  this  affair.  But  no  one 
in  any  way  connected  with  the  administration,  and,  apart  from 
the  President,  no  inmate  of  the  White  House — not  even  the 
President's  private  secretaries — at  that  time  had  any  knowl- 
edge of  this  Embassy  of  Peace. 

Immediately  upon  Mr.  Lincoln's  decision  to  grant  the 
Colonel  leave  of  absence  and  permission  to  visit  the  South, 
Mr.  Gilmore  informed  General  Rosecrans  of  the  President's 
decision.  His  letter  was  answered  by  Major  Frank  S.  Bond, 
Senior  aide  to  General  Rosecrans,  in  a  communication  dated 


96     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

June  4th,  1863,  in  which  he  said:  "On  receipt  of  your  letter 
I  sent  for  Colonel  Jaquess  and  had  a  talk  with  him.  He  says 
he  does  not  wish  to  start  at  once  if  the  Army  is  to  move." 

The  purpose,  if  possible,  to  conduct  the  embassy  of  peace 
had  become  all-dominant  in  the  soul  of  Colonel  Jaquess,  but, 
like  a  true  soldier,  he  realized  that  his  first  obligation  at  that 
time  was  to  bear  his  part  in  the  activities  of  the  army  with 
which  he  was  connected.  Hence,  though  he  was  yearning  to 
enter  upon  his  mission,  he  preferred  to  remain  at  his  post  if 
a  battle  was  likely  to  occur.  But  there  was  no  forward  move- 
ment or  engagement  of  the  army,  and  Colonel  Jaquess  pro- 
ceeded on  his  unique  and  strange  mission.  Starting  from 
Murfreesboro  he  went  directly  to  Baltimore,  where  General 
Robert  C.  Schenck  was  in  command. 

It  was  probably  because  it  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  purpose  to 
keep  the  knowledge  of  this  movement  from  all  who  had  not 
been  already  consulted  respecting  it,  that  he  permitted  Colonel 
Jaquess  to  go  forth  upon  this  work  without  a  pass  and  with- 
out any  request  that  permission  to  proceed  should  be  given 
by  army  commanders  at  points  along  his  journey.  How  he 
could  expect  Colonel  Jaquess  to  proceed  on  his  mission  with- 
out the  permission  of  leading  army  officers,  and  how  he  should 
expect  such  army  officers  to  grant  permission  to  pass  through 
the  lines  without  his  request  is  difficult  to  understand. 

The  President  may  have  believed  that  Colonel  Jaquess' 
sublime  trust  in  God  would  enable  him  in  some  proper  way 
to  secure  the  permission  which  he  must  have  and  for  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  unwilling  to  make  request.  Or  more  prob- 
ably, the  President  had  confidential  understanding  with  his 
army  commanders  by  which  he  could  make  known  to  them 
his  wishes  without  a  direct  written  statement. 

During  the  history  of  this  movement  there  were  several 
events  which  go  far  to  justify  the  conviction  that  such  an 
undeclared  understanding  existed  between  the  President  and 
commanders  in  the  Army.  At  all  events,  on  the  1 3th  of  July, 
1863,  General  Schenck  sent  from  Baltimore  the  following 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  97 

telegram  to  President  Lincoln:  "Colonel  James  F.  Jaquess, 
73d  Illinois  Infantry,  is  here  from  the  Army  of  the  Cum- 
berland. He  desires  me  to  send  him  to  Fort  Monroe.  Shall 
I  do  so?  He  says  you  understand." 

To  this  telegram  the  President,  on  the  I4th  of  July,  made 
the  following  reply:  "Mr.  Jaquess  is  a  very  worthy  gentleman, 
but  I  can  have  nothing  to  do,  directly  or  indirectly,  with  the 
matter  he  has  in  view." 

After  such  a  message  from  the  President,  how  was  it  pos- 
sible for  Colonel  Jaquess  to  proceed?  To  this  question  there 
is  no  known  answer,  but  it  is  known  that  he  did  proceed  upon 
his  mission,  and  by  such  rightful  and  proper  methods  as  se- 
cured him  permission  to  continue  on  his  mission  until  he 
entered  the  Confederate  lines.  In  the  whole  of  human  history 
there  are  few  events  which,  in  thrilling,  dramatic  interest, 
compare  with  the  one  we  are  now  considering.  An  ordinary 
imagination  can  picture  the  fascinating  scene  which  it  pre- 
sents. In  the  bright  sunlight  of  a  southern  July  we  see  this 
frontier  minister  of  the  gospel,  erect  in  form  and  clad  in  the 
uniform  of  an  army  officer,  proceeding  alone  in  the  direction 
of  the  Confederate  capital.  He  is  going  forth  into  a  hos- 
tile country  with  no  authority  save  that  of  the  Almighty, 
to  demand  of  the  proud  and  haughty  leaders  of  the  rebellion 
a  cessation  of  the  warfare  they  were  conducting  against  the 
Government,  and  their  full  submission  to  that  Government's 
authority.  This  demand  he  proposes  to  make,  not  in  the 
name  of  the  Federal  Government,  but  in  the  name  of  the 
Almighty.  Who  else  of  all  the  heroes  of  ancient  or  modern 
history  ever  proceeded  on  a  similar  errand,  without  authority 
and  without  human  companionship?  And  this  scene  appears 
the  more  marvelous  when  it  is  remembered  that  those  for 
whom  Colonel  Jaquess  proposes  to  make  this  demand  were 
just  at  that  time  in  the  very  depths  of  darkness  and  despon- 
dency. Everywhere  in  all  the  field  of  military  conflict  results 
seemed  at  that  time  most  unfavorable  to  the  Union  cause. 
Mr.  Gilmore  tells  us  that  he  never  saw  President  Lincoln 


98      LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

seemingly  so  discouraged  and  depressed  as  during  the  inter- 
view at  which  he  declared  his  purpose  to  permit  Colonel 
Jaquess  to  proceed  on  his  mission.  And  the  picture  of  this 
scene  takes  on  its  high  colors  of  dramatic  interest  when  it  is 
remembered  that  just  at  the  time  Colonel  Jaquess  was  pro- 
ceeding as  rapidly  as  possible  toward  the  Confederate  capital 
the  great  Southern  Army,  under  their  able  commander — 
General  Robert  E.  Lee — was  moving  northward,  flushed  with 
their  recent  victories  and  unquestioningly  confident  of  imme- 
diate and  ultimate  success.  Has  pen  of  poet  or  historian  ever 
given  to  the  world  a  story  more  unique  and  fascinating  ? 

It  was  in  consonance  with  the  wonderful  presence-power 
of  Colonel  Jaquess  that  though  clad  in  his  military  uniform, 
he  was  everywhere  received  with  kindness  by  the  officers 
and  soldiers  of  the  Confederate  Army.  His  strong  person- 
ality, his  evident  sincerity,  his  sublime  faith  and  favor  of 
God,  gave  him  safe  conduct  at  every  point.  General  Long- 
street,  a  distinguished  Confederate  commander,  went  forth 
to  meet  and  welcome  this  volunteer  ambassador  of  God. 
Respecting  his  experiences  on  this  mission,  Colonel  Jaquess 
says:  "I  entered  upon  my  mission,  passed  into  the  Confederate 
lines,  met  a  most  cordial  reception,  was  received  by  those  to 
whom  my  mission  was  directed  as  a  visitant  from  the  other 
world,  and  was  strongly  urged  not  to  cease  my  efforts  till  the 
end  was  accomplished." 

END  OF  FIRST  EMBASSY 

Learning  that  he  could  not  proceed  further  on  his  mission 
without  additional  authority,  Colonel  Jaquess,  after  a  brief 
sojourn  in  the  South,  returned  to  Baltimore,  and  from  that 
city  sent  a  letter  to  President  Lincoln  stating  that  he  had 
valuable  information  to  impart,  and  requesting  an  interview 
for  that  purpose. 

The  letter  in  which  Colonel  Jaquess  made  this  request 
was  never  received  by  President  Lincoln.  His  secretary,  to 
whom  at  that  time  was  entrusted  the  opening  and  sorting  of 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  99 

his  mail,  having  no  knowledge  of  this  movement,  naturally 
regarded  this  letter  as  one  of  the  numberless  messages  then 
being  received  by  the  President,  from  the  consideration  of 
which  he  was  properly  relieved. 

For  two  weeks  Colonel  Jaquess  waited  anxiously  and  in 
vain  at  Baltimore  for  word  from  President  Lincoln,  and 
learning  that  a  battle  was  likely  to  be  fought  by  the  army 
with  which  he  was  connected,  he  hastened  to  the  front  and 
joined  his  regiment  just  in  time  to  participate  in  the  bloody 
battle  of  Chattanooga.  In  this  battle  two  hundred  of  the  men 
under  his  command,  including  nineteen  commissioned  officers, 
were  killed  or  wounded,  and  two  horses  were  shot  under  him 
as  he  was  leading  his  regiment  in  the  battle. 

REQUEST  RENEWED 

At  length  there  was  a  lull  in  military  movements,  and  on 
the  4th  of  November,  1863,  Colonel  Jaquess  addressed  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Gilmore,  giving  an  account  of  his  proceedings  and 
expressing  a  desire  to  re-enter  upon  his  embassy  of  peace. 
Up  to  this  time  no  word  had  been  received  by  the  President 
or  Mr.  Gilmore  respecting  Colonel  Jaquess  and  his  move- 
ments after  his  departure  from  Baltimore  in  the  middle  of 
July,  1863.  When  President  Lincoln  consented  to  Colonel 
Jaquess'  entrance  upon  the  work,  he  said  to  Mr.  Gilmore: 
"I  shall  be  anxious  to  hear  of  him  and  I  wish  you  would 
send  me  the  first  word  you  get."  But  Mr.  Gilmore,  though 
frequently  seeing  the  President  during  those  months,  had  no 
information  to  give  in  answer  to  inquiries  concerning  the 
Colonel. 

Mr.  Gilmore,  in  response  to  Colonel  Jaquess'  letter  of 
November  4th,  1863,  making  request  for  an  opportunity  to 
renew  the  prosecution  of  his  mission  of  peace,  mentioned  the 
matter  to  President  Lincoln,  and  at  length,  through  General 
James  A.  Garfield,  who  knew  of  this  mission  from  its  be- 
ginning in  May,  1863,  and  a  member  of  Congress  at  the  time 
this  second  request  of  Colonel  Jaquess  was  made,  secured 


ioo    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

permission  to  bring  Colonel  Jaquess  to  the  White  House  for 
an  interview  with  the  President.  But  such  were  the  move- 
ments of  the  army,  and  the  interference  of  other  matters, 
that  the  Colonel  was  unable  to  visit  Washington  until  early 
in  July,  1864,  thirteen  months  after  he  started  on  his  first 
embassy  to  the  South. 

THE  SECOND  EMBASSY 

From  the  beginning  of  this  movement,  as  I  already  have 
shown,  Mr.  Lincoln  and  all  who  were  connected  with  it  were 
in  great  uncertainty  respecting  what  it  might  accomplish. 
General  Rosecrans,  on  the  2ist  day  of  May,  1863,  when 
recommending  the  proposition  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  approval, 
stated  that  he  did  not  anticipate  the  results  which  Colonel 
Jaquess  expected,  but  believed  that  it  would  result  in  great 
good.  President  Lincoln  repeatedly  expressed  a  like  convic- 
tion concerning  the  achievements  of  the  mission.  And  even 
Colonel  Jaquess,  in  his  first  letter  to  the  President  stated  that 
it  might  not  accomplish  precisely  what  he  hoped,  though  it 
would  do  much  good.  But  he  never  deviated  from  his  pur- 
pose to  make  demand  that  there  should  be  an  immediate 
cessation  of  hostilities,  trusting  wholly  in  God  for  the  final 
issue  of  the  matter. 

President  Lincoln,  at  the  time  of  his  interview  with  Mr. 
Gilmore,  early  in  April,  1864,  having  become  convinced  that 
the  embassy  would  be  unsuccessful  in  securing  the  results  at 
which  it  aimed,  had  decided  to  give  it  no  further  countenance 
or  encouragement.  But  Mr.  Gilmore,  who  was  thoroughly 
informed  respecting  conditions  throughout  the  country  and 
had  become  deeply  interested  in  the  mission,  had  come  to  see 
in  it  the  possibility  of  other  most  desirable  results.  These 
he  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  President,  by  reminding  him 
of  the  danger  of  his  defeat  as  a  candidate  for  re-election, 
because  of  the  conviction  that  was  rapidly  gaining  strength 
that  the  Confederate  leaders  were  willing  to  accept  peace  upon 
the  single  basis  of  the  restoration  of  the  Union. 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  101 

Mr.  Gilmore  expressed  to  President  Lincoln  the  conviction 
that  Colonel  Jaquess,  by  visiting  Jefferson  Davis  at  Richmond, 
and  in  the  name  of  God  demanding  of  him  submission  to  the 
authority  of  the  national  Government,  could  secure  from  the 
Confederate  chieftain,  even  if  he  declined  his  overtures  for 
peace,  a  declaration  that  upon  no  condition  save  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  South  would  any  terms  of  peace  be  accepted. 
Such  a  declaration  from  Mr.  Davis  would  silence  the  clamors 
for  peace  by  convincing  the  loyal  people  that  it  could  be  se- 
cured only  by  the  re-election  of  President  Lincoln  and  the 
vigorous  and  successful  prosecution  of  the  war. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  far-seeing  politician  and  instantly 
recognized  the  wisdom  of  Mr.  Gilmore's  suggestion  and  the 
possibility  by  this  mission  of  securing  from  Mr.  Davis  the 
desired  declaration.  Therefore,  at  the  conclusion  of  Mr. 
Gilmore's  explanation,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "There  is  something 
in  what  you  say.  But  Jaquess  could  not  do  it — he  could  not 
draw  Davis'  fire.  He  is  too  honest.  You  are  the  man  for 
that  business." 

To  this  statement  by  the  President,  Mr.  Gilmore  replied: 
"Colonel  Jaquess'  honesty  and  sincerity  exactly  fit  him  for  the 
business.  Davis  is  astute  and  wary,  but  the  Colonel's  trans- 
parent honesty  would  disarm  him  completely." 

"Have  you  suggested  this  to  Jaquess  ?"  said  the  President. 

"No,"  replied  Mr.  Gilmore. 

"Well,  if  you  propose  it  to  him  he  will  tell  you  he  won't 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  business.  He  feels  that  he  is 
acting  as  God's  servant  and  messenger,  and  he  would  recoil 
from  anything  like  political  finesse.  But  if  Davis  should  make 
the  declaration  that  no  peace  would  be  accepted  without 
Southern  independence  the  country  should  know  it,  and  I  can 
see  that  coming  from  him  now,  when  everybody  is  tired  of 
the  war,  and  so  many  think  some  honorable  settlement  can  be 
made,  it  might  be  of  vital  importance  to  us.  But  I  tell  you 
that  not  Jaquess  but  you  are  the  man  for  that  business." 


102    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

This  latter  statement  was  a  shock  of  surprise  to  Mr.  Gil- 
more.  Evidently  there  had  not  dawned  upon  his  mind  a 
thought  of  the  possibility  of  his  being  asked  by  the  President 
to  undertake  this  mission. 

His  remonstrances,  however,  were  all  in  vain.  The  Presi- 
dent had  become  deeply  interested  in  the  proposition  and  was 
insistent  that  it  should  be  conducted  not  by  Jaquess  but  by 
Mr.  Gilmore. 

"This,"  said  Mr.  Gilmore,  "is  a  new  and  unexpected 
thought  to  me,  Mr.  Lincoln.  Will  you  allow  me  to  consider 
it  and  talk  it  over  with  Mr.  Chase  and  General  Garfield?" 

"Certainly,"  the  President  answered,  "talk  with  them  and 
bring  them  both  here  with  you  this  evening.  I  should  like 
to  confer  with  them  myself — with  Chase  particularly.  Tell 
him  so." 

That  evening  Mr.  Gilmore  visited  the  President,  accom- 
panied by  Mr.  Chase,  who  had  only  a  few  days  before  retired 
from  the  President's  Cabinet.  General  Garfield  was  not  pres- 
ent because  of  his  absence  from  the  city.  When  Mr.  Lincoln 
learned  that  General  Garfield  could  not  be  present  he  said  to 
Mr.  Chase:  "Well,  I  wanted  you  particularly.  This  is  a  deli- 
cate and  important  business  and  I  did  not  want  to  start  it 
without  your  advice." 

"I  know  you  are  sincere  in  that  expression,  Mr.  Lincoln," 
said  Mr.  Chase,  "and  I  feel  honored  by  it." 

"Well,  sit  down,  both  of  you,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "and 
let  us  get  to  business.  Now,  Mr.  Gilmore,  you  have  decided 
to  ask  me  for  a  pass  into  the  rebel  lines?" 

"I  have,  sir,"  answered  Mr.  Gilmore,  "on  the  condition 
that  you  allow  me  to  make  such  overtures  to  Davis  as  will 
put  him  entirely  in  the  wrong  if  he  should  reject  them." 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "Mr.  Chase  and  I  will  talk 
about  that  in  a  moment.  But,  first,  another  question:  Do 
you  understand  that  I  neither  suggest,  nor  request,  nor  direct 
you  to  take  this  journey?" 

"I  do,"  promptly  replied  Mr.  Gilmore. 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  103 

"And  will  you  say  so,"  asked  the  President,  "if  it  should 
seem  to  me  to  be  necessary?" 

"I  will,  whether  you  ask  it  of  me  or  not,"  was  the  prompt 
response. 

"And,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "if  those  people  should  hold 
on  to  you, — should  give  you  free  lodgings  till  our  election  is 
over,  or  in  any  other  manner  treat  you  unlike  gentlemen, — 
do  you  understand  that  I  shall  be  absolutely  powerless  to  help 
you?" 

"I  understand  that,  sir,  fully,"  said  Mr.  Gilmore. 

"And  you  are  willing  to  go?" 

In  answer  to  this  question  Mr.  Gilmore  expressed  his 
willingness,  with  that  understanding,  to  undertake  the  mission. 

For  two  hours  and  more  President  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Chase 
conferred  together  respecting  the  terms  of  peace  which  Gil- 
more  and  Jaquess  would  be  authorized  to  state  to  the  Con- 
federate leaders  as  those  which  President  Lincoln  and  the 
Government  would  probably  be  willing  to  accept. 

The  terms  as  dictated  to  Mr.  Gilmore  by  Mr.  Lincoln, 
and  approved  by  Mr.  Chase,  were  as  follows: 

First.  The  immediate  dissolution  of  the  Southern  Gov- 
ernment, and  the  disbandment  of  its  armies ;  and  the  acknowl- 
edgment by  all  the  States  in  rebellion  of  the  supremacy  of 
the  Union. 

Second.  The  total  and  absolute  abolition  of  slavery  in 
every  one  of  the  late  Slave  States  and  throughout  the  Union. 
This  to  be  perpetual. 

Third.  Full  amnesty  to  all  who  have  been  in  any  way 
engaged  in  the  rebellion,  and  their  restoration  to  all  the  rights 
of  citizenship. 

Fourth.  All  acts  of  secession  to  be  regarded  as  nullities; 
and  the  late  rebellious  states  to  be,  and  be  regarded,  as  if  they 
had  never  attempted  to  secede  from  the  Union.  Represen- 
tation in  the  House  from  the  recent  Slave  States  to  be  on  the 
basis  of  their  voting  population. 

Fifth.  The  sum  of  five  hundred  millions,  in  United  States 


104    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

stock,  to  be  issued  and  divided  between  the  late  Slave  States, 
to  be  used  by  them  in  payment  to  slave  owners,  loyal  and 
disloyal,  for  the  slaves  emancipated  by  my  proclamation.  This 
sum  to  be  divided  among  the  late  slave  owners,  equally  and 
equitably,  at  the  rate  of  one-half  the  value  of  the  slaves  in 
the  year  1860;  and  if  any  surplus  remain,  it  to  be  returned 
to  the  United  States  Treasury. 

Sixth.  A  national  convention  to  be  convened  as  soon  as 
practicable,  to  ratify  this  settlement,  and  make  such  changes 
in  the  Constitution  as  may  be  in  accord  with  the  new  order  of 
things. 

Seventh.  The  intent  and  meaning  of  all  the  foregoing  is 
that  the  Union  shall  be  wholly  restored  as  it  was  before  the 
Rebellion,  with  the  exception  that  all  slaves  within  its  borders 
are,  and  shall  forever  be,  freemen. 

After  the  terms  upon  which  they  finally  agreed  had  been 
written  out  in  full,  Mr.  Chase  said:  "Mr.  Davis  is  not  likely 
to  accept  the  offer.  Mr.  Gilmore  is  confident  that  he  will  not 
accept  peace  without  separation.  To  get  his  declaration  to  that 
effect  is  why  you  send  Gilmore?" 

To  this  the  President  replied:  "True,  but  peace  may  pos- 
sibly come  out  of  this  and  I  do  not  want  to  say  a  word  that 
is  not  in  good  faith.  We  want  to  draw  Davis'  fire,  but  we 
must  do  it  fairly. 

"What  I  think  of  most  is  the  risk  Gilmore  will  run.  The 
case  is  not  the  same  with  him  as  with  Jaquess.  There  is  some- 
thing about  that  man,  a  kind  of  'thus  saith  the  Lord,'  that 
would  protect  him  anywhere.  But  Gilmore  is  not  Jaquess. 
He  will  go  in  with  my  pass,  and  the  rebels  won't  talk  with 
him  five  minutes  before  they  ascertain  that  he  is  fully  pos- 
sessed of  my  views.  He  will  say  he  does  not  represent  me; 
but  they  will  think  they  know  better.  Now,  as  the  thing  they 
want  most  is  our  recognition  of  them,  may  they  not  hold 
on  to  him,  to  force  me  to  some  step  for  his  protection  that  shall 
recognize  them?  And  if  they  decline  the  overtures,  as  they 
probably  will,  is  it  not  likely  they  will  refuse  to  let  him  out 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  105 

before  our  election,  because  of  the  damage  he  may  do  their 
friends  by  publishing  the  facts  to  the  country?  Now,  Mr. 
Chase,  can  you  see  any  way  by  which  I  can  protect  him?" 

"I  cannot,"  replied  Mr.  Chase,  "unless  you  should  copy 
the  proposals  into  a  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Gilmore,  sign  it, 
and  in  it  request  him  to  read  it  to  Mr.  Davis.  That  would 
give  him  a  semi-official  character,  and  they  would  not  dare  to 
molest  him." 

"That  I  can't  do,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln.  "It  would  be  making 
direct  overtures.  I  don't  see,  Gilmore,  but  you  will  have  to 
trust  in  the  Lord ;  only  be  sure  to  keep  your  powder  dry." 

Mr.  Gilmore  then  informed  the  President  that  Colonel 
Jaquess  had  agreed  to  accompany  him,  and  said:  "I  should 
hesitate  to  go  without  him,  as  I  should  need  the  help  of  his 
cool  courage  to  give  me  the  backbone  requisite  for  the  occa- 
sion." 

The  President  then  gave  Mr.  Gilmore  the  following  pass: 

"Will  General  Grant  allow  James  R.  Gilmore  and  friend 
to  pass  our  lines  with  ordinary  baggage  and  go  South. 

"A.  LINCOLN. 
"July  6th,  1864." 

As  he  handed  Mr.  Gilmore  this  necessary  pass  the  Presi- 
dent said:  "Tell  Colonel  Jaquess  that  I  omitted  his  name  on 
account  of  the  talk  about  his  previous  trip,  and  I  wish  you 
would  explain  to  him  my  refusal  to  see  him.  I  want  him  to 
feel  kindly  to  me."  No  one  can  read  these  remarkable  words 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  without  realizing  that  the  great  President 
cherished  for  this  peculiar  and  remarkable  soldier  not  only 
very  high  esteem  but  tender  and  loving  regard. 

When  this  prolonged  interview  between  President  Lincoln, 
Mr.  Chase  and  Mr.  Gilmore  had  accomplished  its  purpose, 
and  his  two  guests  arose  to  depart,  Mr.  Lincoln  cordially  said: 
"Good  night,  Mr.  Chase,"  and  then  taking  Mr.  Gilmore  lov- 
ingly by  the  hand  he  said:  "God  bless  and  prosper  you.  My 
good  wishes  will  be  with  you.  Good-bye."  And  then,  still 


106    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

holding  Mr.  Gilmore  by  the  hand  and  with  seeming  great 
depth  of  feeling,  he  added:  "Have  you  looked  squarely  in  the 
face  that  if  you  get  into  trouble  I  can  in  no  way  help  you. 
That  I  shall  be  obliged  to  say  that  while  I  have  given  you 
the  terms  on  which  I  am  personally  willing  to  settle  this  thing, 
I  have  not  authorized  you  to  offer  these  or  any  terms  what- 
ever?" 

To  this  Mr.  Gilmore  replied:  "I  think  the  object,  sir,  is 
worth  the  risk.  I  shall  tell  Davis  distinctly  that  I  have  no 
authority  and  only  desire  to  open  the  door  for  official  nego- 
tiations." 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  Colonel  Jaquess  was  not 
present  at  this  interview  and  knew  nothing  of  the  political 
features  which  the  movement  had  taken  on.  His  mind  was 
wholly  occupied  with  his  divine  call  and  commission  from 
which  he  never  for  a  moment  allowed  his  attention  to  be 
diverted. 

It  was  on  the  evening  of  the  6th  of  July,  1864,  that  James 
R.  Gilmore,  walking  beside  the  magnificent  form  of  Salmon 
P.  Chase,  emerged  from  the  presence  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
and  from  the  White  House  to  go  forth  on  the  following  day 
with  Colonel  Jaquess  "into  the  jaws  of  death"  to  endeavor 
to  aid  in  rescuing  the  nation  from  the  greatest  peril  in  all  its 
history, 

THE  PEACE  PERIL 

That  peril  arose  from  the  fact  that  when  those  volunteer 
envoys  started  on  their  mission  in  July,  1864,  conditions 
throughout  the  country  were  very  different  from  those  which 
existed  in  May,  1863,  when  this  mission  was  first  suggested 
by  Colonel  Jaquess.  There  had  been  a  year  and  a  half  of 
experience  under  the  Emancipation  Proclamation;  the  Con- 
stitutional Amendment  abolishing  slavery  had  passed  the 
senate  by  a  very  large  majority,  and  though  defeated  in  the 
House,  arrangements  had  been  made  for  a  reconsideration  of 
the  vote,  and  there  were  strong  indications  that  at  the  next 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  107 

session  that  amendment  would  pass  the  House,  and  would 
beyond  all  question  be  approved  by  the  requisite  three-fourths 
of  the  States. 

In  addition  to  these  advance  movements  in  civil  affairs, 
more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  colored  soldiers 
had  enlisted  in  the  Federal  army  and  were  doing  excellent 
military  service.  The  great  and  important  victories  at  Gettys- 
bury,  and  Vicksburg  and  vicinity,  had  been  won;  Lee,  with 
his  great  army,  had  been  driven  back  into  the  South;  Grant 
had  been  put  in  command  of  all  the  Union  forces  and  was 
steadily  advancing  toward  the  Confederate  capital;  Sherman 
was  prosecuting  his  memorable  march  toward  the  sea;  Sheri- 
dan was  leading  his  army  forward  with  uninterrupted  success, 
and  an  early  cessation  of  hostilities  seemed  likely  soon  to  be 
accomplished  by  military  force. 

But,  notwithstanding  these  auspicious  conditions  in  the 
field,  an  appalling  peril  threatened  the  life  of  the  nation  from 
the  danger  of  the  defeat  in  November  of  President  Lincoln, 
who  was  a  candidate  for  re-election.  So  unpromising  at  this 
time  was  the  military  outlook  for  the  Confederates  that  their 
only  hope  of  avoiding  early  and  overwhelming  defeat  de- 
pended on  the  movement  then  being  prosecuted  with  all  pos- 
sible vigor  for  the  election  of  an  opposition  President  who, 
for  the  sake  of  peace,  would  consent  to  national  dismember- 
ment. 

When  General  Neal  Dow  was  released  from  Libby  Prison, 
in  which  he  had  spent  eight  months  as  a  prisoner,  and  was 
exchanged  for  General  Fitzhugh  Lee,  on  the  journey  to  his 
home  in  Maine  he  visited  Washington  and  was  accorded  a 
magnificent  ovation  in  the  national  House  of  Representatives. 
This  was  fittingly  followed  by  personal  greetings  of  members 
of  the  House  which  was  worthy  of  the  veteran  military  leader 
and  the  champion  of  civic  righteousness. 

Respecting  what  occurred  upon  that  occasion,  General 
Dow  said:  "At  that  time  a  strong  effort  was  made  in  influ- 
ential quarters  to  substitute  some  other  candidate  than  Mr. 


io8    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Lincoln  for  the  ensuing  Presidential  election.  The  members 
of  the  House  crowded  about  me  to  know  what  effect  such  a 
measure  would  have  at  the  South.  Great  was  the  joy  of  those 
surrounding  me  when  I  said:  'The  rebels  are  now  exhausted 
of  money  and  men  and  hope;  their  only  chance  is  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  may  be  set  aside,  as  they  would  regard  that  as  a 
repudiation  of  his  policy,  and  are  sure  that  peace  to  the  Con- 
federacy, with  formal  dissolution  of  the  Union,  would  fol- 
low.' "4 

The  Confederate  leaders  were  not  only  deeply  interested 
in  the  movement  for  the  defeat  of  President  Lincoln,  but  were 
endeavoring  to  accomplish  that  result  by  keeping  a  strong 
commission  of  the  ablest  politicians  of  the  South  constantly 
at  Niagara  Falls  to  confer  and  co-operate  with  their  allies 
in  the  North  respecting  this  matter.  Those  commissioners 
were  for  months  in  frequent  and  prolonged  consultation  with 
leaders  of  the  opposition  movement  to  secure  such  action  of 
the  Chicago  Democratic  Convention  as  would  accomplish  the 
result  for  which  they  were  striving. 

In  his  "Southern  History  of  the  War,"  E.  A.  Pollard,  an 
ardent  Confederate,  says:  "No  doubt  can  rest  in  history,  that 
at  the  time  of  the  Chicago  Convention  (which  named 
McClellan)  the  democratic  party  in  the  North  had  prepared 
a  secret  program  of  operations,  the  final  and  inevitable  con- 
clusion of  which  was  the  acknowledgment  of  the  Confederate 
states." 

In  commenting  on  this  declaration  of  Mr.  Pollard,  Horace 
Greeley  said:  "We  have  always  supposed  that  there  was  a 
general  understanding  arrived  at  between  the  rebel  commis- 
sioners in  Canada  and  their  democratic  visitors  from  this  side 
as  to  what  should  be  said  and  done  at  Chicago." 

Relative  to  that  Confederate  Commission  at  Niagara  Falls, 
and  its  purpose,  President  Lincoln,  on  July  25th,  1864,  in  a 
letter  to  Abram  Wakeman,  postmaster  of  New  York  City, 
said: 

4  Abraham  Lincoln,  Tributes  from  his  Associates,  p.  93. 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  109 

"The  men  of  the  South  recently  (and  perhaps  still)  at 
Niagara  Falls  tell  us  distinctly  that  they  are  in  the  confidential 
employment  of  the  Rebellion;  and  they  tell  us  as  distinctly 
that  they  are  not  empowered  to  offer  terms  of  peace.  Does 
any  one  doubt  that  what  they  are  empowered  to  do  is  to 
assist  in  selecting  and  arranging  a  candidate  and  a  platform 
for  the  Chicago  convention?  .  .  .  Thus  the  present  Presi- 
dential contest  will  almost  certainly  be  no  other  than  a  contest 
between  a  union  and  a  disunion  candidate,  disunion  certainly 
following  the  success  of  the  latter.  The  issue  is  a  mighty  one 
for  all  people  and  all  times,  and  whoever  aids  the  right  will 
be  appreciated  and  remembered."5 

During  all  the  summer  of  1864  those  Confederate  com- 
missioners remained  at  Niagara  Falls.  They  were  thus  in 
close  touch  with  their  friends,  the  leaders  of  the  peace  party 
in  the  loyal  states,  and  their  presence  at  the  Falls  afforded 
those  leaders  seeming  justification  for  the  claim  that  they 
were  there  for  the  purpose  of  endeavoring  to  secure  peace  by 
negotiation.  This  utterly  untruthful  claim  was  urged  by  those 
peace  leaders  with  very  great  vigor  and  enthusiasm,  and  was 
given  a  marvelous  degree  of  credence  by  a  constantly  increas- 
ing number  of  loyal  people  in  the  North. 

The  Confederate  leaders  never  had  uttered  a  word  that 
would  justify  these  claims  and  many  times  had  declared  that 
they  would  never  consider  any  terms  of  peace  without  dis- 
union and  Southern  independence.  But  during  this  Presiden- 
tial campaign  they  had  cunningly  remained  silent  respecting 
this  matter,  in  order  to  afford  their  friends  in  the  North  seem- 
ing justification  for  the  claim  that  they  had  been  sobered  by 
reverses  in  the  field,  and  were  ready  to  negotiate  for  peace 
with  "The  Constitution  as  it  is  and  the  Union  as  it  was." 

THE  INTERVIEW  WITH  JEFFERSON  DAVIS 

Just  at  this  crisis,  when  the  false  claims  of  the  opposition 
were  being  given  such  wide  credence,  and  when  to  those  of 
5  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  pp.  170-171. 


us  who  were  active  in  the  work  of  national  preservation, 
it  seemed  that  the  nation  was  rapidly  drifting  upon  the  nearby 
rocks  of  national  dismemberment,  on  the  7th  of  July,  1864, 
the  volunteer  ambassadors  of  peace — Jaquess  and  Gilmore — 
went  forth  from  Washington,  D.  C,  the  one  in  the  name 
of  God,  to  demand  of  Jefferson  Davis  and  his  associates 
submission  to  the  authority  of  the  national  government;  and 
the  other,  in  case  this  demand  was  rejected,  to  bring  back 
and  proclaim  throughout  the  nation  declarations  which  that 
Confederate  leader  should  make,  and  which  were  expected 
to  give  the  lie  to  the  claims  being  made  respecting  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  peaceable  restoration  of  the  Union.  Such  a  decla- 
ration, if  secured  and  widely  published,  would  stop  the  mouths 
of  those  who  were  declaring  the  war  a  failure,  and  demanding 
a  dishonorable  and  destructive  peace. 

On  July  Qth,  the  second  day  after  their  departure  from 
Washington,  Mr.  Gilmore  and  Colonel  Jaquess  arrived  at 
City  Point,  and  were  cordially  received  by  General  Grant, 
who  expressed  great  delight  at  meeting  Colonel  Jaquess,  with 
whom  he  was  well  acquainted  and  of  whom  he  had  a  very 
high  opinion.  When  informed  that  they  desired  to  visit 
Richmond,  General  Grant  was  doubtful  of  his  ability  to  secure 
for  them  the  permission  of  the  Confederate  authorities  to 
do  so. 

But  after  several  days,  during  which  they  were  guests  of 
General  Butler,  the  permission  was  received,  when  an  unex- 
pected and  seemingly  insurmountable  obstacle  was  encoun- 
tered in  the  peremptory  refusal  of  General  Grant  to  permit 
them  to  proceed  unless  he  was  informed  respecting  the  pur- 
poses for  which  they  wished  to  visit  Richmond.  Mr.  Lincoln's 
written  pass  given  to  Mr.  Gilmore  did  not  avail  to  cause 
General  Grant  to  relent ;  but  after  he  had  wired  the  President, 
at  Mr.  Gilmore's  suggestion,  and  had  received  his  answer,  he 
not  only  opened  the  way  for  them  to  proceed  on  their  journey, 
but  gave  them  an  imposing  escort  to  the  Confederate  lines. 
General  Grant's  sudden  change  of  mind  and  his  arrangements 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  in 

for  the  continuance  of  the  journey  of  these  envoys  was 
another  illustration  of  President  Lincoln's  purpose  to  see  that 
these  two  self-appointed  ambassadors  should  have  the  oppor- 
tunity to  prosecute  their  mission  unhindered  by  any  obstacle 
within  the  Union  lines.  What  he  said  that  night  in  his  tele- 
graphic reply  to  General  Grant  is  not  known,  but  we  are 
assured  that  his  message  was  so  worded  as  to  cause  his  hand 
to  be  unseen  in  opening  to  them  the  doors  which  General 
Grant's  military  prudence  had  closed,  and  in  causing  them  to 
be  provided  by  General  Grant  with  such  a  distinguished  escort 
as  made  upon  the  Confederate  officers  a  profound  and  favor- 
able impression. 

When  Mr.  Gilmore  and  Colonel  Jaquess  finally  reached 
the  Confederate  capital  they  were  placed  under  strict  sur- 
veillance, which  continued  by  day  and  night  until  their  de- 
parture for  the  North.  They  were,  however,  treated  with 
marked  courtesy  and  were  granted  the  desired  interview  with 
Jefferson  Davis  and  the  Hon.  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  the  Con- 
federate Secretary  of  State. 

At  the  preliminary  interview  with  Mr.  Benjamin,  Colonel 
Jaquess  said:  "We  bring  no  overtures  and  have  no  authority 
from  our  Government.  We  stated  that  in  our  note.  We 
would  be  glad,  however,  to  know  what  terms  would  be  accept- 
able to  Mr.  Davis.  If  they  at  all  harmonize  with  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's views  we  will  report  them  to  him,  and  so  open  the  door 
for  official  negotiations." 

When  asked,  "Did  Mr.  Lincoln  in  any  way  authorize  you 
to  come  here?"  Colonel  Jaquess  replied:  "No,  sir.  We  come 
with  his  pass,  but  not  by  his  request.  We  say  distinctly  we 
have  no  official  or  unofficial  authority.  We  come  as  men  and 
Christians,  not  as  diplomats,  hoping,  in  a  frank  talk  with 
Mr.  Davis  to  discover  some  way  by  which  this  war  may  be 
stopped." 

With  this  frank  and  unequivocal  statement  made  by  Colo- 
nel Jaquess  to  Mr.  Benjamin,  the  requested  interview  with 
Mr.  Davis  was  secured,  and  the  terms  of  peace  agreed  upon 


ii2    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

by  President  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Chase  were  submitted.  And  it 
was  stated  that  while  they  had  no  authority  to  submit  any 
terms,  there  was  reason  for  the  belief  that  the  terms  stated 
would  be  acceptable  to  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  government. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  interview  Colonel  Jaquess  said 
to  Mr.  Davis:  "We  have  asked  this  interview  in  the  hope 
that  you  may  suggest  some  way  by  which  this  war  may  be 
stopped.  Our  people  want  peace,  your  people  do,  and  your 
Congress  has  recently  said  that  you  do.  We  have  come  to 
ask  how  it  can  be  brought  about." 

To  this  statement  Mr.  Davis  with  characteristic  assurance 
replied :  "In  a  very  simple  way.  Withdraw  your  armies  from 
our  territory  and  peace  will  come  of  itself.  .  .  .  Let  us 
alone,  and  peace  will  come  at  once." 

"But,"  replied  the  Colonel,  "we  cannot  let  you  alone  so 
long  as  you  repudiate  the  Union;  that  is  the  one  thing  the 
Northern  people  will  not  surrender." 

"I  know,"  said  Mr.  Davis.  "You  would  deny  to  us  what 
you  exact  for  yourselves — the  right  of  self-government.  .  .  . 
You  have  shown  such  bitterness  toward  the  South,  you  have 
put  such  an  ocean  of  blood  between  the  two  countries  that  I 
despair  of  seeing  any  harmony  in  my  time.  Our  children  may 
forget  this  war,  but  we  cannot." 

To  this  emphatic  statement  by  Mr.  Davis,  Colonel  Jaquess 
calmly  and  with  dignity  replied:  "I  think  the  bitterness  you 
speak  of,  sir,  does  not  really  exist.  We  meet  and  talk  here 
as  friends;  our  soldiers  meet  and  fraternize  with  each  other, 
and  I  feel  sure  that  if  the  Union  were  restored  a  more  friendly 
feeling  will  arise  between  us  than  ever  has  existed.  The  war 
has  made  us  know  and  respect  each  other  better  than  before. 
This  is  the  view  of  very  many  Southern  men.  I  have  had  it 
from  very  many  of  them — your  leading  citizens." 

To  this  loving  and  persuasive  statement  by  Colonel  Jaquess 
Mr.  Davis  icily  replied:  "They  are  mistaken.  They  do  not 
understand  Southern  sentiment.  How  can  we  feel  anything 
but  bitterness  toward  men  who  deny  us  our  rights?  If  you 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  113 

enter  my  house  and  drive  me  out  of  it,  am  I  not  your  natural 
enemy  ?" 

With  that  marvelous  courage  and  trust  in  God  which  kept 
him  always  calm  and  serene,  Colonel  Jaquess,  in  reply  to  this 
contentious  declaration  of  Mr.  Davis,  said :  "You  put  the  case 
too  strongly,  but  we  cannot  fight  forever ;  the  war  must  end  at 
some  time ;  we  must  finally  agree  upon  something ;  can  we  not 
agree  now  and  stop  this  frightful  carnage  ?" 

This  brief  and  manly  statement  by  the  Colonel  seemed  only 
to  irritate  the  Confederate  leader,  who  with  more  show  of 
feeling  said:  "The  North  was  mad  and  blind;  it  would  not 
let  us  govern  ourselves  and  so  the  war  came,  and  now  it  must 
go  on  till  the  last  man  of  this  generation  falls  in  his  tracks, 
and  his  children  seize  his  musket  and  fight  our  battle,  unless 
you  acknowledge  our  right  to  self-government.  We  are  not 
fighting  for  slavery.  We  are  fighting  for  independence  and 
that,  or  extermination,  we  will  have."  To  this  Colonel 
Jaquess  with  tenderness  replied:  "When  I  have  seen  your 
young  men  dying  on  the  battlefield,  and  your  old  men,  women 
and  children  starving  in  their  homes,  I  have  felt  that  I  could 
risk  my  life  to  save  them." 

To  this  Mr.  Davis  answered:  "I  know  your  motives,  Colo- 
nel Jaquess,  and  I  honor  you  for  them."  Later  in  the  con- 
versation Mr.  Davis  said:  "At  your  door  lies  all  the  misery 
and  crime  of  this  war,  and  it  is  a  fearful,  fearful  account." 

At  this  point  the  spirit  of  Elijah  radiated  from  the  counte- 
nance of  the  Colonel,  who  replied :  "Not  all  of  it,  Mr.  Davis ; 
I  admit  a  fearful  account,  but  it  is  not  all  at  our  door.  The 
passions  of  both  sides  are  aroused.  Unarmed  men  are  hanged, 
persons  are  shot  down  in  cold  blood  by  yourselves.  Elements 
of  barbarism  are  entering  the  war  from  both  sides  that  should 
make  us — you  and  me — as  Christian  men  shudder  to  think  of. 
In  God's  name  let  us  stop  it!  Let  us  do  something,  concede 
something,  to  bring  about  peace.  You  cannot  expect,  with 
only  four  and  a  half  millions,  as  Mr.  Benjamin  says  you  have, 
to  hold  out  forever  against  twenty  millions." 


ii4    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

The  reader  should  not  overlook,  nor  fail  to  appreciate  the 
significance  of  the  smile  which  appeared  on  Mr.  Davis'  face 
as  he  disclosed  the  close  relationship  existing  between  the 
Confederates  and  their  northern  allies,  when  he  asked:  "Do 
you  suppose  there  are  twenty  millions  at  the  North  determined 
to  crush  us  ?  I  do  not  so  read  the  returns  of  your  recent 
elections.  To  my  mind  they  show  that  fully  one-half  of  your 
people  think  we  are  right  and  would  fight  for  us  if  they  had 
the  opportunity." 

Mr.  Davis  further  said:  "Slavery  is  not  an  element  in  the 
contest." 

"Then,"  it  was  replied,  "if  I  understand  you,  the  dispute 
with  your  government  is  now  narrowed  down  to  this,  union 
or  disunion?" 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Davis,  "or,  to  put  it  in  other  words,  in- 
dependence or  subjugation."  Later  he  said:  "We  will  govern 
ourselves!  We  will  do  it,  if  we  have  to  see  every  Southern 
plantation  sacked  and  every  Southern  city  in  flames." 

When  the  interview  closed  Mr.  Davis  kindly  said  "Good- 
bye," and  shook  hands  with  Mr.  Gilmore,  expressing  the  hope 
of  seeing  him  again  in  Richmond  in  happier  times;  but,  as 
Mr.  Gilmore  tells  us,  "with  the  Colonel  his  parting  was  par- 
ticularly cordial.  Taking  his  hand  in  both  of  his  he  said: 
'Colonel,  I  respect  your  character  and  your  motives,  and  I 
wish  you  well — I  wish  you  every  good  I  can  wish  you  con- 
sistently with  the  interests  of  the  Confederacy.' ' 

It  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  Davis,  during  this  interview, 
made  precisely  the  declaration  which  was  expected,  the  decla- 
ration that  nothing  but  Southern  independence  would  be  for 
a  moment  considered.  This  declaration  was  in  accordance 
with  what  Mr.  Lincoln  and  those  associated  with  him  fully 
believed  was  the  purpose  of  the  Confederate  chieftain.  And 
it  was  to  afford  him  the  opportunity  to  consider  liberal  terms 
of  peace  and  to  secure  from  him  this  declaration  in  case  of  his 
refusal  to  consider  those  terms,  that  Mr.  Gilmore  undertook 
and  prosecuted  this  second  mission.  For  the  same  reason 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  115 

Mr.  Lincoln  favored  the  mission  and  provided  that  it  should 
be  carried  out. 

Colonel  Jaquess,  however,  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  se- 
curing immediate  peace  in  the  name  of  the  Almighty.  While 
regarding  it  as  his  only  mission  to  demand  a  cessation  of 
hostility  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  Jehovah,  he  was 
not  confident  of  securing  acceptance  of  the  terms  offered. 
He  was,  however,  from  first  to  last  unquestioningly  confident 
that  God  was  in  the  undertaking,  and  whether  its  immediate 
results  were  or  were  not  such  as  he  sought  to  accomplish,  he 
firmly  believed  that  in  the  end  it  would  lead  to  desirable 
results. 

It  could  not  be  expected  that  the  purposes  and  aims  of 
Gilmore  and  Jaquess  would  not  be  discovered  by  men  as  able 
and  astute  as  Davis  and  Benjamin.  The  latter,  after  the 
departure  of  their  two  visitors,  freely  expressed  his  convic- 
tion to  Davis  that  Gilmore  and  Jaquess  should  be  kept  in 
Richmond  until  after  the  Presidential  election.  He  saw  in 
Jaquess  only  transparent  honesty  and  sincerity.  He  believed 
he  was  seriously  seeking  peace,  but  he  was  fully  convinced 
that  the  frank  statements  of  Davis  would  by  Gilmore  be 
widely  distributed  throughout  the  North,  and  would  contribute 
very  largely  to  the  re-election  of  President  Lincoln.  But  Mr. 
Davis,  while  sharing  in  the  apprehensions  of  Benjamin,  real- 
ized that  to  hold  these  peaceable  citizens,  who  came  to  them 
in  the  name  of  God,  asking  only  for  peace  and  the  restoration 
of  the  Union,  would  injure  the  Confederate  cause  in  the  North 
and  in  the  South  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  would  their 
return  to  the  Union  lines.  While  these  matters  were  being 
discussed  by  Davis  and  Benjamin,  Mr.  Gilmore  and  Colonel 
Jaquess  arranged  for  their  departure  North  early  the  follow- 
ing morning.  But  when  the  promised  escort  to  the  Union 
lines  did  not  appear  at  the  appointed  time,  Mr.  Gilmore 
became  nervously  apprehensive  that  the  delay  boded  ill  for 
him  and  his  companion.  But  no  such  thought  seemed  to  enter 
the  mind  of  Colonel  Jaquess,  respecting  whose  behavior  Mr. 


n6    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Gilmore  says:  "All  this  while  he  sat,  his  spectacles  on  his 
nose,  and  his  chair  canted  against  the  window  sill,  absorbed 
in  reading  the  newspaper.  Occasionally  he  would  look  up  to 
comment  on  something  he  was  reading,  but  not  a  movement 
of  his  face  nor  a  glance  of  his  eye,  had  betrayed  that  he  was 
conscious  of  Judge  Quid's  delay,  or  of  my  extreme  restless- 
ness. As  I  said,  'Ould  (their  escort)  is  more  than  three  hours 
late,  what  does  it  mean?'  he  took  off  his  spectacles  and 
quietly  rubbing  the  glasses  with  his  handkerchief,  replied: 
'It  looks  badly,  but — I  ask  no  odds  of  them.  We  have  tried 
to  serve  the  country,  that  is  enough.  Let  them  hang  us  if 
they  like.  But  if  they  do,  if  they  ill-treat  two  men  who  come 
to  them  with  the  olive  branch  of  peace,  their  rotten  Confed- 
eracy won't  hang  together  for  a  fortnight.  The  civilized 
world  will  pray  for  its  destruction.' ' 

At  length,  being  shown  through  Libby  prison,  these  two 
volunteer  ambassadors  were  escorted  to  the  Union  lines,  where 
Colonel  Jaquess,  by  invitation,  remained  for  several  days  a 
guest  of  General  Grant.  But  Gilmore,  without  delay,  returned 
to  Washington,  and  arriving  there  at  night,  proceeded  at  once 
to  the  White  House  to  report  to  President  Lincoln.  Fortu- 
nately, he  found  the  President  in  consultation  with  Charles 
Sumner,  the  great  Massachusetts  senator,  who  then  for  the 
first  time  learned  of  this  embassy  of  peace.  Mr.  Gilmore  had 
carefully  prepared  a  report,  which  he  read  to  the  President 
in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Sumner,  and  it  was  immediately  de- 
cided to  publish  a  brief  summary  of  the  interview  with  Davis, 
including  his  declarations  relative  to  the  terms  of  peace. 

This,  at  Mr.  Sumner's  suggestion,  was  first  to  appear  in 
the  Boston  Evening  Transcript,  and  to  be  followed  by  a  more 
extended  account  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly.  As  Mr.  Gilmore 
was  about  to  withdraw  from  the  conference  at  the  White 
House,  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  great  elation,  said:  "Jaquess  was 
right.  God  was  in  it.  This  may  be  worth  more  to  us  than 
half  a  dozen  battles.  It  is  important  that  Davis'  position 
should  be  known  at  once.  Get  the  thing  out  as  soon  as  you 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  117 

can,  but  don't  forget  to  send  me  the  proof  of  what  you  write 
for  the  Atlantic  Monthly.    Good-bye,  God  bless  you." 

PERIL  MORE  APPALLING 

The  perils  which  threatened  the  nation  at  the  time  Jaquess 
and  Gilmore  started  on  the  second  embassy  early  in  July, 
1864,  were  greatly  increased  during  the  weeks  of  their 
absence  in  the  South,  by  the  false  claims  of  the  peace  agitators 
who  were  opposing  President  Lincoln's  re-election.  And  after 
the  return  of  those  volunteer  envoys  with  the  defiant  decla- 
rations of  Mr.  Davis,  and  their  publication,  the  helpful  influ- 
ence of  those  disclosures  among  the  masses  of  the  people  was 
not  at  first  recognized  by  the  leaders  of  the  Union  party. 

As  the  time  approached  for  holding  the  Presidential  elec- 
tion, Mr.  Lincoln's  realization  of  the  nation's  perils  became 
more  and  more  oppressive.  Under  a  solemn  sense  of  duty 
he  remained  continuously  at  his  post,  and  when  on  the  i$th 
of  August,  1864,  he  was  requested  by  John  T.  Mills  to  ward 
off  a  breakdown  in  his  health  by  taking  a  few  weeks'  vaca- 
tion, he  deliberately  and  with  great  solemnity  replied: 

"I  cannot  fly  from  my  thoughts — my  solicitude  for  this 
great  country  follows  me  wherever  I  go.  I  do  not  think  it 
is  personal  vanity  or  ambition,  though  I  am  not  free  from 
these  infirmities,  but  I  cannot  but  feel  that  the  weal  or  woe 
of  this  great  nation  will  be  decided  in  November.  There  is 
no  program  offered  by  any  wing  of  the  democratic  party 
but  that  must  result  in  the  permanent  destruction  of  the 
Union." 

When  reminded  by  Mr.  Mills  that  General  McClellan 
would  undoubtedly  be  the  democratic  candidate  for  President 
and  that  he  was  "in  favor  of  crushing  out  this  rebellion  by 
force,"  Mr.  Lincoln  made  the  following  reply,  which  should 
never  be  forgotten  by  the  American  people:  "Sir,  the  slightest 
knowledge  of  arithmetic  will  prove  to  any  man  that  the  rebel 
armies  cannot  be  destroyed  by  democratic  strategy.  It  would 
sacrifice  all  the  white  men  of  the  North  to  do  it.  There  are 


n8    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

now  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  nearly  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  able-bodied  colored  men,  most  of  them 
under  arms,  defending  and  acquiring  Union  territory.  The 
democratic  strategy  demands  that  these  forces  be  disbanded, 
and  that  the  masters  be  conciliated  by  restoring  them  to 
slavery.  The  black  men  who  are  now  assisting  Union  prisoners 
to  escape  are  to  be  converted  into  our  enemies,  in  the  vain 
hope  of  gaining  the  good  will  of  their  masters.  We  shall 
have  to  fight  two  nations  instead  of  one. 

"You  cannot  conciliate  the  South  if  you  guarantee  to  them 
ultimate  success;  and  the  experience  of  the  present  war  proves 
their  success  is  inevitable  if  you  fling  the  compulsory  labor 
of  millions  of  black  men  into  their  side  of  the  scale.  Will 
you  give  our  enemies  such  military  advantages  as  insure  suc- 
cess, and  then  depend  on  coaxing,  flattery  and  concession  to 
get  them  back  into  the  Union?  Abandon  all  the  posts  now 
garrisoned  by  black  men,  take  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
men  from  our  side  and  put  them  in  the  battlefield  or  corn- 
field against  us,  and  we  will  be  compelled  to  abandon  the  war 
in  three  weeks."6 

The  entire  influence  of  the  Confederacy  was  back  of  the 
Niagara  Falls  Commission,  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  secure 
at  the  Chicago  convention  the  nomination  of  a  candidate  for 
President,  and  the  adoption  of  a  platform  favorable  to  South- 
ern independence.  That  commission  succeeded  in  securing 
the  latter  of  these  two  results  in  the  adoption  of  the  resolution 
written  by  Vallandigham,  which  was  wholly  to  their  liking. 
Mr.  Vallandigham  had  been,  and  was  the  leader  of  the  extreme 
Confederate-favoring  element  of  the  North.  So  offensive  had 
his  utterances  and  conduct  become  that  he  was  exiled  from 
the  country,  but  after  a  time  returned  and  was  permitted  to 
remain.  In  the  Chicago  convention  he  was  the  recognized 
champion  of  the  Confederate-favoring  element.  The  Niagara 
Falls  Commission,  however,  did  not  secure  the  nomination  of 
the  candidate  of  their  choice;  but  they  were  fully  aware  that 

6  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  189. 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  119 

if  Mr.  Lincoln  could  be  defeated  no  President  thus  elected 
could  possibly  refrain  from  carrying  out  the  program  of  peace, 
even  though  it  required  national  dismemberment. 

To  judge  correctly  the  purposes  of  a  political  party  we 
must  not  look  to  the  platform  or  the  declarations  of  its  can- 
didates, but  to  the  obvious  animating  sentiments  of  the  people 
composing  that  party.  The  animating  sentiments  of  the  oppo- 
sition party  in  attendance  at  the  Chicago  convention  of  1864 
was  indicated  by  the  tumultuous  and  prolonged  applause  which 
greeted  the  introduction  and  the  adoption  of  the  Vallandigham 
resolution  which  declared  the  war  a  failure  and  demanded  a 
cessation  of  hostilities. 

In  justice  to  General  McClellan,  who  was  the  nominee  of 
the  Chicago  convention,  it  should  be  stated  that  in  his  letter  of 
acceptance  he  emphatically  avowed  his  loyalty  to  the  Union 
and  his  determination  never  to  consent  to  its  dissolution. 

But  in  his  criticism  of  McClellan's  quasi  repudiation  of 
the  platform  on  which  he  was  a  candidate  for  election,  Val- 
landigham declared  that  in  the  Chicago  convention  the  senti- 
ments expressed  by  General  McClellan  had  little  or  no  support, 
and  that  the  resolution  written  by  him  and  adopted  by  the 
convention,  expressed  not  only  the  convictions  and  purposes 
of  that  convention,  but  those  of  the  adherents  of  the  party 
throughout  the  nation.  In  this  statement  Mr.  Vallandigham 
was  undoubtedly  correct.  It  was  my  privilege  to  be  an  active 
participant  in  the  political  movements  in  the  nation  at  that 
time.  I  was  almost  constantly  upon  the  stump  addressing 
great  outdoor  political  rallies,  and  smaller  but  equally  enthusi- 
astic meetings  in  halls,  churches,  and  schoolhouses,  and  I  was 
untiring  in  my  attendance  upon  party  conferences,  caucuses 
and  conventions.  Therefore,  I  was  thoroughly  familiar  with 
existing  conditions  and  with  all  influences  which  at  that  time, 
by  open  and  fair  methods,  or  by  cunning  and  stealth,  were 
engaged  in  the  activities  of  the  political  arena;  and  although 
military  conditions,  operations  and  prospects  at  that  time  were 
so  favorable  as  to  justify  the  hope  for  an  early  and  satis- 


120    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

factory  termination  of  the  war,  to  those  of  us  who,  in  the 
political  field,  were  struggling  for  the  re-election  of  President 
Lincoln  as  the  only  method  of  securing  the  preservation  of 
the  Union,  it  was  the  darkest  period  of  all  those  stormy  years ; 
for  no  possible  military  triumphs  could  avail  to  save  the  Union 
without  a  favorable  verdict  of  the  people  at  the  polls  in 
November.  During  that  campaign  the  following  circular  was 
widely  and  plentifully  distributed  throughout  Ohio: 

A  PRAYER  FOR  PEACE 

ON  THE  BASIS  OF  THE  INTEGRITY  OF  THE  UNION 

To  the  President  of  the  United  States: 

We,  the  women  of  Ohio,  the  mothers,  wives,  daughters 
and  sisters  of  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  or  who  slumber  in 
patriotic  graves,  petition  to  the  President  to  grant  us  peace. 

We  love  the  union  of  the  states,  but  above  all  we  love 
that  sacred  and  holy  union  composed  of  our  fathers,  hus- 
bands, sons  and  brothers.  Many  of  our  homes  are  desolate — 
all  are  obscured  in  gloom,  and  our  habiliments  of  woe  are 
stained  with  fraternal,  with  conjugal  and  with  filial  blood. 
Oh,  then,  let  our  prayer  be  heard,  and  do  not  doom  to  death 
the  remaining  loved  ones  whose  presence  saves  us  from 
despair!  With  prayers  for  our  country  and  peace,  we  trust- 
ingly subscribe  our  names.7 

Other  circulars  of  a  similar  character  were,  in  like  manner, 
distributed  in  other  states,  and  their  influence  was  inestimably 
harmful  to  the  Union  cause.  Such  appeals,  whether  in  circu- 
lars, newspapers  or  in  public  addresses,  would  have  possessed 
but  little  if  any  force  without  the  claim  which  was  persis- 
tently presented  that  "peace  could  readily  be  secured  without 
further  effusion  of  blood,"  if  the  national  Government  would 
only  consent  to  a  restoration  of  the  Union  without  any  inter- 
ference with  the  institution  of  slavery. 

A  Political  History  of  Slavery,  Vol.  II.,  p.  192. 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  121 

In  its  earlier  stages  the  war  was  prosecuted  by  the  national 
government  for  the  sole  purpose  of  preserving  the  Union, 
but  it  had  come  to  be  regarded  as  necessary  to  destroy  slavery 
in  order  to  save  the  Union.  And  the  movement  for  the  over- 
throw of  slavery  had  made  such  progress  that  the  government 
was  irreversibly  committed  to  the  extermination  of  that  in- 
stitution. It  was  upon  that  well-understood  platform  that 
President  Lincoln  was  a  candidate  for  re-election. 

There  was  no  doubt  as  to  the  purpose  of  an  overwhelming 
majority  of  the  people  in  the  loyal  states  never  to  consent 
to  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  but  there  were  many  loyal 
people  who  were  ready  to  give  credence  to  the  utterly  false 
declaration  of  the  opposition  leaders  that  peace  could  be  se- 
cured by  negotiations  without  further  bloodshed.  This  caused 
the  peril  of  disunion  to  loom  up  as  at  no  other  period,  and 
seriously  to  threaten  the  nation's  life.  A  consideration  of 
the  conditions  at  that  time  in  the  loyal  states  will  show  how 
great  and  appalling  that  peril  was. 

At  the  time  of  President  Lincoln's  first  election  in  1860, 
the  voting  population  of  the  North  was  quite  evenly  divided 
between  those  who  supported  and  those  who  opposed  him.  A 
very  large  per  cent  of  those  who  voted  against  him  were 
intensely  hostile  to  all  antislavery  sentiments  and  measures. 
They  disliked  the  colored  people  and  earnestly  believed  in 
slavery  as  an  institution  which  kept  that  race  in  its  proper 
place.  All  such  were  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  South 
before  and  during  the  rebellion.  But  a  large  per  cent  of 
those  who  opposed  Mr.  Lincoln's  election  in  1860  were  loyal 
to  the  Union,  and  when  the  flag  was  assailed  they  instantly 
sprang  to  the  defense  of  the  Government.  With  them  all 
party  ties  disappeared,  and  with  all  loyal  supporters  of  the 
Government  they  united  in  forming  what  was  known  as  the 
"Union  Party."  Leading  democrats  like  Douglas,  Logan  and 
many  others  of  great  prominence  and  influence  rallied  to  the 
support  of  the  administration  and  were  followed  by  the  loyal 
people  of  every  party.  From  this  great  multitude  of  Union 


122    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

men,  irrespective  of  party  affiliations,  the  Union  army  was 
recruited,  but  those  in  the  loyal  states  who  in  heart  sym- 
pathized with  the  South  refused  to  enlist  and  remained  at 
home,  as  a  part  of  the  nation's  electorate,  and  in  the  absence 
of  the  loyal  voters  who  were  in  the  army,  they  constituted 
a  very  dangerous  element ;  yet  being  in  the  minority  they  were 
unable  at  elections  to  aid  the  Confederate  movement  to  any 
very  considerable  extent. 

Had  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1864  been  conducted 
upon  the  single  issue  of  union  or  disunion,  the  opposition 
would  have  had  no  show  of  success,  but  by  claiming  that  the 
South  was  ripe  for  a  restoration  of  the  Union,  without  fur- 
ther war,  this  thoroughly  disloyal  element  in  the  loyal  states 
was  enabled  to  win  to  the  support  of  their  efforts  for  the  elec- 
tion of  a  peace-favoring  candidate  many  loyal  people  whom 
they  could  induce  to  believe  in  their  false  claims  respecting 
the  possibility  of  peace  by  official  negotiations.  The  work  of 
winning  loyal  people  to  the  support  of  this  disloyal  peace 
movement  was  prosecuted  with  such  vigor  and  persistence  that 
at  midsummer,  during  the  Presidential  campaign,  there  ap- 
peared little  hope  of  the  re-election  of  President  Lincoln. 

During  that  campaign  Hon.  Henry  J.  Raymond,  formerly 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  New  York,  subsequently  a  distin- 
guished member  of  Congress  and  at  that  time  and  for  many 
years  the  proprietor  and  very  able  and  influential  editor  of  the 
New  York  Times,  was  chairman  of  the  national  committee 
of  the  Union  party  which  had  nominated  and  was  supporting 
President  Lincoln  for  re-election.  When  that  Presidential 
campaign  was  at  its  height  Mr.  Raymond  addressed  President 
Lincoln  a  lengthy  and  most  discouraging  letter,  dated  August 
22nd,  1864,  in  which  among  other  similar  statements  he  said: 

"The  tide  is  setting  strongly  against  us.  Hon.  E.  B. 
VVashburne  writes  that  'were  an  election  to  be  held  now  in 
Illinois  we  should  be  beaten.'  Mr.  Cameron  writes  that  Penn- 
sylvania is  against  us.  Governor  Morton  writes  that  nothing 
but  the  most  strenuous  efforts  can  carry  Indiana.  This  state, 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  123 

New  York,  according  to  the  best  information  I  can  get,  would 
go  fifty  thousand  against  us  tomorrow.  And  so  of  the  rest. 

"In  some  way  or  other  the  suspicion  is  widely  diffused 
that  we  can  have  peace  with  Union  if  we  would.  It  is  idle 
to  reason  with  this  belief — still  more  idle  to  denounce  it.  It 
can  only  be  expelled  by  some  authoritative  act,  at  once  bold 
enough  to  fix  attention  and  distinct  enough  to  defy  incredulity 
and  challenge  respect. 

"Why  would  it  not  be  wise,  under  these  circumstances, 
to  appoint  a  commission,  in  due  form,  to  make  distinct  proffers 
of  peace  to  Davis,  as  the  head  of  the  rebel  armies,  on  the  sole 
condition  of  acknowledging  the  supremacy  of  the  Constitu- 
tion— all  other  questions  to  be  settled  in  a  convention  of  the 
people  of  all  the  states? 

"I  cannot  conceive  of  any  answer  which  Davis  could  give 
to  such  a  proposition  which  would  not  strengthen  you  and 
the  Union  cause  everywhere.  Even  your  radical  friends  could 
not  fail  to  applaud  it  when  they  should  see  the  practical 
strength  it  would  bring  to  the  common  cause. 

"I  beg  you  to  excuse  the  earnestness  with  which  I  have 
pressed  this  matter  upon  your  attention.  It  seems  to  me 
calculated  to  do  good — and  incapable  of  doing  harm.  It  will 
turn  the  tide  of  public  sentiment  and  avert  impending  evils 
of  the  gravest  character.  It  will  arouse  and  concentrate  the 
loyalty  of  the  country  and  unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken  give 
us  an  easy  and  a  fruitful  victory.  Permit  me  to  add  that  if 
done  at  all  I  think  this  should  be  done  at  once — as  your  own 
spontaneous  act.  In  advance  of  the  Chicago  convention  it 
might  render  the  action  of  that  body  of  very  little  conse- 
quence."8 

Bearing  the  same  date  as  Mr.  Raymond's  letter  the  fol- 
lowing was  received  by  Hon.  William  H.  Seward  from  Thur- 
low  Weed  of  Albany,  N.  Y. : 

"When,  ten  days  since,  I  told  Mr.  Lincoln  that  his  re- 

8  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  219. 


124    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

election  was  an  impossibility,  I  also  told  him  that  the  infor- 
mation would  soon  come  to  him  through  other  channels.  It 
has  doubtless  ere  this  reached  him.  At  any  rate  nobody  here 
doubts  it,  nor  do  I  see  anybody  from  other  states  who  author- 
izes the  slightest  hope  of  success.  Mr.  Raymond,  who  has 
just  left  me,  says  that  unless  some  prompt  and  bold  step  be 
now  taken  all  is  lost.  The  people  are  wild  for  peace.  They 
are  told  that  the  President  will  only  listen  to  terms  of  peace 
on  condition  (that)  slavery  be  abandoned.  .  .  .Mr.  Ray- 
mond thinks  commissioners  should  be  immediately  sent  to 
Richmond  offering  to  treat  for  peace  on  the  basis  of  Union. 
That  something  should  be  done  and  promptly  done  to  give  the 
Administration  a  chance  for  its  life  is  certain."9 

If  President  Lincoln  had  pursued  the  course  here  suggested 
by  Mr.  Raymond  and  approved  by  Mr.  Weed,  he  would  in 
so  doing  have  given  to  the  Confederate  government  just  the 
recognition  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion  most  ardently  desired, 
and  would  have  caused  like  recognition  promptly  to  be  given 
the  Confederacy  by  European  nations.  Only  a  few  days  earlier, 
as  stated  on  a  preceding  page  of  this  chapter,  Mr.  Chase  dur- 
ing the  conference  at  the  White  House  with  Mr.  Gilmore 
suggested  to  the  President  a  course  of  action  which  Mr. 
Lincoln  immediately  saw  would  result,  if  taken,  in  the  recog- 
nition which  he  always  had  refused  to  give  the  Confederate 
government.  What  marvelous  sagacity  was  required  to  avoid 
the  fatal  blunders  which  such  great  men  were  then  urging  upon 
him! 

On  the  day  following  the  date  of  these  two  letters  Mr. 
Lincoln  carefully  wrote  a  memorandum,  which  he  sealed,  giv- 
ing instruction  that  it  should  not  be  opened  until  after  the 
Presidential  election.  Before  sealing  the  memorandum  he 
secured  upon  the  reverse  side  of  the  paper  the  signatures  of 
the  members  of  his  Cabinet  without  their  knowledge  of  its 
contents.  That  memorandum  is  as  follows:10 

9  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  250. 

10  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  203. 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  125 

"Executive  Mansion,  August  23rd,  1864. 
"This  morning,  as  for  some  days  past,  it  seems  exceed- 
ingly probable  that  this  administration  will  not  be  re-elected. 
Then  it  will  be  my  duty  to  so  co-operate  with  the  President- 
elect as  to  save  the  Union  between  the  election  and  the  inau- 
guration ;  as  he  will  have  to  secure  his  election  on  such  ground 
that  he  cannot  possibly  save  it  afterward. 

"A.  LINCOLN." 

Why  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  his  own  hand,  and  without  any 
person's  knowledge,  should  have  written  this  memorandum 
never  has  been  and  never  can  be  explained.  But  that  memo- 
randum constitutes  a  milestone  on  the  way  of  governmental 
progress.  For  half  a  century  and  more  it  has  touched  the 
hearts  of  every  truly  loyal  man  and  woman  who  has  given 
it  a  sympathetic  perusal.  That  at  such  a  time  his  great  heart, 
so  true  to  God,  and  so  faithful  to  every  interest  of  humanity, 
should  be  pierced  through  and  through  with  the  pain  that 
wrung  from  him  that  piteous  wail  of  anguish,  is  cause  for 
tears  of  tender  sympathy. 

That  memorandum,  and  the  two  letters  from  Raymond 
and  Weed,  which  were  probably  received  by  the  President 
the  day  he  wrote  it,  faithfully  disclose  the  condition  of  the 
country  at  the  time  as  understood  by  the  loyal  people  of  the 
nation. 

THE  PERIL  AVERTED 

In  accordance  with  Mr.  Sumner's  suggestion,  which  was 
approved  by  the  President,  Mr.  Gilmore  prepared  a  brief  news 
item  containing  an  account  of  the  interview  with  Mr.  Davis 
and  his  declaration  that  the  Confederates  were  not  fighting 
for  slavery  but  for  independence,  and  that  they  would  never 
consent  to  a  restoration  of  the  Union.  This  news  item  was 
first  published  in  the  Boston  Evening  Transcript  of  July  22nd, 
1864,  and  was  copied  by  the  loyal  newspapers  throughout  the 
nation.  It  at  once  arrested  the  attention  of  the  nation,  and 


126    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

prepared  the  way  for  the  more  extended  history  of  the 
Jaquess-Gilmore  embassy,  and  a  full  account  of  the  interview 
with  Davis,  which  was  published  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly  for 
September,  1864.  The  proofs  of  this  magazine  article  were, 
at  his  request,  furnished  President  Lincoln  and  carefully  re- 
vised by  him  before  its  publication,  and  that  article  is  now 
before  me  in  the  copy  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly  in  which  it 
first  appeared. 

Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Gilmore, 
which  is  in  the  library  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  in 
Baltimore,  states  that  "beyond  question  that  article  had  a 
larger  number  of  readers  than  any  magazine  article  ever 
written."  It  was  at  once  reproduced  in  its  entirety  by  the 
London  Times,  News,  and  Telegraph,  and  was  republished 
by  the  leading  newspapers  in  all  the  loyal  states,  and  was  the 
theme  of  strong  editorials,  political  speeches  and  private  con- 
versations among  the  people.  It  was  more  seriously  consid- 
ered and  talked  about  than  any  other  matter  during  the  Presi- 
dential campaign. 

Even  the  great  victories  of  Sherman  and  Sheridan  did  not 
arouse  and  hold  public  attention  as  did  the  declarations  of 
Davis  which  appeared  in  that  magazine  article.  Those  decla- 
rations of  the  Confederate  leader  cleared  the  political  atmos- 
phere by  showing  that  there  was  not  the  slightest  foundation 
in  truth  for  the  claim  of  the  opposition  peace  party  that  the 
South  would  welcome  peace  upon  the  terms  of  the  restoration 
of  the  Union. 

The  peace  movement  had  attained  tremendous  strength 
when  those  declarations  of  Davis  were  made  public.  It  had 
extended  throughout  all  the  loyal  states  and  was  rapidly 
advancing  to  greater  portions.  It  had  become  so  powerful 
that,  as  before  stated,  the  leaders  of  the  Union  party  had  lost 
all  hope  of  President  Lincoln's  re-election,  and  the  President 
himself  on  the  23rd  day  of  August,  1864,  with  a  sad  heart, 
had  written  and  sealed  his  now  historical  memorandum  ex- 
pressing the  conviction  that  he  would  not  be  re-elected. 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  127 

There  was  a  measure  of  plausibility  in  the  claim  that 
the  victories  at  Vicksburg  and  vicinity,  and  at  Gettysburg, 
the  constant  advance  of  Grant  upon  Richmond,  Sherman's 
triumphant  march  to  the  sea,  and  the  series  of  Union  vic- 
tories under  Sheridan,  had  caused  the  Confederate  leaders  to 
recognize  the  certainty  of  their  early  overthrow  and  to  be 
willing  to  consider  overtures  for  peace.  Although  we  knew 
those  claims  were  without  warrant  or  justification,  until  the 
Davis  disunion  declarations  were  published,  we  could  not 
prove  them  false  to  the  satisfaction  of  those  who  were  join- 
ing the  peace  movement  in  the  hope  that  those  claims  were 
true.  Many  times  before  those  declarations  were  published 
my  pleas  at  public  meetings  for  the  re-election  of  President 
Lincoln  were  interrupted  by  those  claims  being  thrust  for- 
ward and  insisted  upon  by  opposition  leaders.  And  like  events 
were  constantly  occurring  throughout  the  loyal  states  to  the 
unavoidable  advantage  of  the  peace  party. 

I  cannot  forget  the  pathetic  and  appalling  scenes  which  I 
witnessed  during  that  Presidential  campaign,  previous  to  the 
publication  of  the  Davis  declarations  that  he  would  never 
consent  to  peace  without  disunion.  It  was  heartrending  to  see 
staunch,  loyal  unionists  joining  the  Confederate-favoring 
peace  movement  under  the  delusion  that  the  war  had  accom- 
plished the  purposes  for  which  it  had  been  conducted,  and 
that  the  Confederate  leaders  were  ready  and  eager  to  return 
to  their  allegiance  to  the  Government.  The  toll  of  the  war 
had  been  so  great;  so  many  had  fallen  in  battle  or  died  of 
wounds,  sickness  and  hardships;  so  unspeakable  had  been  the 
sufferings  and  sacrifices  throughout  the  loyal  states  that  many 
true  Union  men  were  readily  caught  in  the  snare  so  skillfully 
constructed  by  the  Confederate  leaders  and  manipulated  by 
their  northern  allies,  and  in  large  and  increasing  numbers  were 
joining  in  a  movement  designed  and  calculated  to  accomplish 
the  dismemberment  of  the  nation. 

It  was  utterly  impossible  to  arrest  and  turn  this  movement 
back,  or  retard  the  desertion  of  sincere  and  devoted  adherents 


128    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

of  the  Union  cause  from  the  ranks  of  the  supporters  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  and  their  enlistment  under  the  opposition  ban- 
ner. It  was  utterly  beside  the  mark  to  appeal  to  the  spirit 
of  patriotism,  inasmuch  as  they  were  sincerely  loyal  to  their 
country,  and  were  willing  to  make  any  needed  sacrifices  in  its 
defense.  Their  mistake  was  they  had  been  induced  to  believe 
that  the  further  prosecution  of  the  war  was  not  necessary  to 
the  preservation  of  the  nation. 

Like  a  stampeding  herd,  those  deserters  were  blindly  rush- 
ing on  their  way,  deaf  to  reason  and  remonstrance.  While 
the  brave  soldiers  in  the  field  were  winning  glorious  victories 
and  rapidly  marching  on  to  early  and  complete  triumph,  many 
of  their  relatives  and  friends  in  the  loyal  states  were  joining 
in  a  movement  which  if  successful  would  have  meant  the 
surrender  of  all  the  fruits  of  their  years  of  sacrifice  and  suf- 
fering. During  all  the  months  of  that  memorable  campaign 
I  was  in  the  midst  of  the  contending  movements,  aiding  in 
the  struggle  to  stay  the  tide  of  desertion  from  the  Union  party, 
and  to  save  the  nation  by  the  re-election  of  President  Lin- 
coln ;  and  I  cannot  forget  the  determination  with  which  people 
of  unquestionable  loyalty  at  that  time  aided  in  carrying  out 
the  program  prepared  by  the  Confederate  leaders,  under  the 
mad  delusion  that  those  leaders  were  eager  for  peace  and  the 
restoration  of  the  Union.  I  cannot  forget — it  lingers  with 
me  still  like  the  memory  of  a  frightful  dream — the  darkness 
which  at  that  time  hung  like  a  storm-cloud  over  the  nation 
and  the  cause  of  human  freedom. 

And  I  hope  ever  to  remember  that  day,  when  like  a  great 
light  from  heaven  the  disclosures  of  the  Jaquess-Gilmore 
embassy  burst  upon  the  world  first  in  the  brief  news  item  in 
the  Boston  Transcript  and  afterwards  in  the  Gilmore  maga- 
zine article,  revealing  the  appalling  disaster  toward  which  we 
were  rapidly  moving. 

The  scenes  which  followed  that  exposure  of  the  fixed 
determination  of  the  Confederate  leaders  to  destroy  the  nation, 
and  the  utter  untruthfulnesss  of  the  claims  of  their  emissaries 


THE  JAOUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  129 

in  the  North,  linger  in  the  memory  of  those  who  witnessed 
them  like  the  pleasing  recollections  of  a  loved  one's  recovery 
from  a  seemingly  fatal  illness.  The  column  of  loyal  people 
moving  toward  the  camp  of  the  opposition  suddenly  halted 
and  began  to  return  to  the  Union  camp,  where  the  starry  em- 
blem of  an  undivided  nation  floated  in  undimmed  splendor 
and  glory.  That  return  in  its  early  stages  was  somewhat 
hesitating,  for  the  peace  delusion  had  taken  fast  hold  upon 
its  victims,  and  it  required  time  and  effort  to  dispel  the  en- 
chantment of  a  hoped-for  bloodless  peace;  but  the  light  of 
truth  had  begun  to  shine  and  each  day  witnessed  an  increase 
in  the  public  realization  of  the  appalling  disaster  which  for 
months  we  had  been  steadily  approaching,  and  it  became  more 
and  more  evident  that  it  could  be  avoided  only  by  the  re- 
election of  President  Lincoln;  and  as  that  conviction  grew 
there  was  an  increase  in  the  number  returning  to  the  Union 
party,  and  in  the  haste  and  zest  with  which  they  resumed  their 
allegiance  to  the  President  and  his  governmental  policies. 
With  glad  and  grateful  heart  I  now  recall  the  occasions  when 
the  Confederate-favoring  peace  delusion  was  thrust  into 
meetings  I  was  addressing  and  was  speedily  and  easily  proved 
to  be  false  by  a  statement  of  Jefferson  Davis'  declarations  to 
Jaquess  and  Gilmore.  That  gun  never  missed  fire  and  no 
peace  party  champion  at  whom  it  was  aimed  ever  failed  to 
fall  when  it  was  discharged.  Every  speaker  in  the  campaign 
for  the  re-election  of  President  Lincoln,  who  was  at  all  fit 
for  that  work,  was  familiar  with  the  Gilmore  article  and 
made  such  effective  use  of  the  declarations  of  Davis  as  to 
cause  the  people  to  realize  the  unyielding  determination  of  the 
Confederate  leaders  never  to  consent  to  peace  which  did  not 
include  Southern  independence.  And  thus  was  broken  the 
power  of  the  false  claims  of  the  peace  party  and  thus  were 
the  deserters  from  the  Union  party  brought  back  to  their 
allegiance  to  the  Government  in  such  numbers  as  to  save  the 
nation  by  the  re-election  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Horace  Greeley  was  probably  better  informed  than  was 


130    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

any  other  man  in  the  Union  respecting  political  conditions  and 
movements,  and  that  great  journalist  stated  in  the  Tribune 
that  the  scheme  to  secure  Southern  independence  by  the  defeat 
of  President  Lincoln  and  the  election  of  an  opposition  Presi- 
dent "was  spoiled  by  Jefferson  Davis'  peremptory  declaration 
to  Jaquess  and  Gilmore  that  he  would  consent  to  no  peace 
that  did  not  recognize  the  Southern  Confederacy  as  henceforth 
independent.  We  believe,"  said  Mr.  Greeley,  "that  the  visit 
of  Jaquess  and  Gilmore  to  Richmond  saved  the  vote  of  this 
(New  York)  state  to  Lincoln,  though  Sherman's  capture  of 
Atlanta,  and  Sheridan's  victories  in  the  Valley  doubtless  co- 
operated with  the  semi-treasonable  follies  of  the  Chicago 
Convention  and  Platform,  to  render  the  general  triumph  of 
Lincoln  more  complete  and  overwhelming." 

Mr.  Greeley's  statement  in  the  Tribune  that  the  vote  of 
the  state  of  New  York  was  saved  to  Lincoln  by  the  Jaquess- 
Gilmore  Mission  may  to  some  seem  extravagant,  but  a  con- 
sideration of  the  known  facts  in  the  case  cannot  fail  to  con- 
vince the  candid  reader  that  it  was  unquestionably  correct. 

The  aggregate  popular  vote  in  the  state  of  New  York  for 
both  Lincoln  and  McClellan  in  the  election  of  1864  was 
730,712,  of  which  President  Lincoln  received  a  majority  of 
only  6,740,  which  is  less  than  one  per  cent  of  the  total 
vote  cast  for  both  candidates.  It  would,  therefore,  have 
required  the  change  of  only  3,371  votes  from  Lincoln  to 
McClellan,  or  less  than  one-half  of  one  per  cent  of  the  entire 
vote  cast,  to  have  carried  the  state,  with  its  thirty-three 
electoral  votes,  for  McClellan.  In  other  words,  if  in  the  state 
of  New  York,  at  that  election,  one  voter  in  two  hundred 
had  been  by  those  Davis  declarations  which  appeared  in  the 
Gilmore  magazine  article  induced  to  vote  for  Lincoln  instead 
of  McClellan  it  saved  the  state  to  President  Lincoln. 

And  no  one  at  all  familiar  with  conditions  as  they  existed 
at  that  time  can  fail  to  believe  that  the  Gilmore  article  exerted 
an  influence  many  times  greater  than  was  required  to  win 
President  Lincoln  one  voter  in  two  hundred  of  those  who  bv 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  131 

the  deluding  peace  pretensions  had  become  inclined  to  the  sup- 
port of  McClellan. 

The  great  victories  under  Sherman  and  Sheridan  kindled 
the  fire  of  enthusiasm  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  but  the 
Gilmore  article  told  the  people  how  to  vote.  Those  victories 
were  attended  by  great  loss  of  life  and  property,  and  the 
people  had  come  to  hope  that  peace  might  be  obtained  without 
having  to  pay  for  it  such  a  terrible  price.  They  were  pained 
at  the  thought  of  the  great  losses  sustained  by  the  enemy  in 
those  battles,  and  their  hearts  were  crushed  by  the  loss  of 
their  own  loved  ones  in  winning  those  victories.  For  these 
reasons  the  magnificent  victories  in  the  field,  while  very  help- 
ful to  the  Union  cause,  in  the  Presidential  campaign  did  not 
so  increase  the  vote  for  Mr.  Lincoln  as  to  have  caused  his 
re-election  without  the  Gilmore  disclosures.  While  the  vic- 
tories in  the  field  strengthened  and  stimulated  the  hope  of  the 
people  that  the  war  could  soon  be  brought  to  a  successful 
issue  by  military  operations,  the  declarations  of  Mr.  Davis 
convinced  the  people  that  peace  could  be  secured  by  no  other 
method. 

It  has  been  customary  to  regard  President  Lincoln's 
triumph  at  the  polls  as  overwhelming.  Of  the  electoral  votes 
cast  Mr.  Lincoln  received  212,  while  only  21  were  cast  for 
his  opponent.  I  was  present  in  the  joint  session  of  the 
two  houses  when  those  electoral  votes  were  counted,  and 
the  victory  at  that  time  seemed  very  great.  But,  even  at 
this  late  period,  it  is  startling  to  consider  by  what  a  small 
margin  that  victory  was  won.  To  show  how  very  narrow 
was  our  escape  at  that  election,  and  to  indicate  what  must 
have  been  achieved  by  the  disclosures  of  the  Jaquess-Gilmore 
interview  with  Jefferson  Davis,  and  their  nation-wide  pub- 
licity, the  following  statistics  are  commended  to  the  reader's 
careful  consideration: 


States 
New  Hampshire.. 
Connecticut   .... 

Lincoln 
.       38,661 
44,69^ 

McClellan 

33724 
42,288 

Majority 

4,937 

New  York  

.    ^68,726 

^61,986 

6,740 

Pennsylvania  .  .  . 

288,657 

34,444 

Indiana  , 

I  ^0  422 

130,233 

20,189 

Illinois  

189,487 

31,138 

Total  . 

132    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

POPULAR  VOTE  OF  Six  STATES  IN 
1864 

Electors 

5 
6 

26 

13 
16 

99 

A  glance  at  the  third  column  of  the  above  figures  shows 
how  very  small  were  President  Lincoln's  popular  majorities 
in  the  six  states  above  mentioned.  An  examination  of  those 
majorities  shows  us  that  a  change  from  Lincoln  to  McClellan 
of  2,500  votes  in  New  Hampshire,  1,250  in  Connecticut, 
3,371  in  New  York,  17,250  in  Pennsylvania,  10,100  in  In- 
diana, and  15,600  in  Illinois  would  have  carried  all  those 
states  with  their  99  electoral  votes  for  McClellan.  And  with 
the  21  votes  he  did  secure  it  would  have  given  him  120  elec- 
toral votes,  while  only  113  would  have  been  cast  for  President 
Lincoln. 

There  are  times  when  contending  forces  are  so  nearly 
equal  that  a  very  small  accession  of  power  on  either  side  will 
win  a  victory. 

Victor  Hugo  tells  us  that  the  Battle  of  Waterloo  was 
decided  by  a  shepherd  boy  shaking  his  head  in  answer  to  a 
question  by  Napoleon. 

So  nearly  eqnal  were  the  contending  forces  in  our  Presi- 
dential campaign  of  1880  that  three  words,  "Rum,  Romanism, 
and  Rebellion,"  defeated  James  G.  Blaine,  and  made  Grover 
Cleveland  President  of  the  United  States. 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION          133 

And  in  1864  conditions  were  such  in  the  loyal  states  of 
the  Union  as  to  cause  the  disclosures  of  the  Jaquess-Gilmore 
interview  with  Davis  to  exercise  a  deciding  influence  in  the 
Presidential  campaign  then  in  progress,  and  to  rescue  the 
nation  from  the  calamity  of  the  defeat  of  President  Lincoln, 
which  would  surely  have  been  accomplished  but  for  the  influ- 
ence of  this  divinely  ordered  and  divinely  prospered  embassy 
of  peace. 

To  achieve  that  result  those  two  brave  and  consecrated 
Christian  men  voluntarily  entered  upon  and  courageously  and 
wisely  prosecuted  their  very  dangerous  mission,  with  no  other 
aid  or  encouragement  from  the  Government  than  permission 
to  risk  all  in  an  effort  so  seemingly  unpromising  and  full  of 
peril. 

CONFEDERATE  TESTIMONY 

When  Mr.  Gilmore's  article  appeared  in  the  Atlantic 
Monthly  it  immediately  attracted  the  attention  of  the  world 
and  exerted  a  tremendous  influence  upon  the  attitude  of  Euro- 
pean powers  to  the  Confederacy.  This  fact  caused  Mr.  Ben- 
jamin to  send  to  Mr.  Mason,  and  to  the  other  diplomatic 
agents  of  the  Confederacy  in  Europe,  a  letter  in  which  he  gives 
his  version  of  the  Jaquess-Gilmore  interview  with  Mr.  Davis 
and  himself. 

Mr.  Benjamin's  statement  of  the  facts  in  the  case  are  in 
agreement  with  the  statements  in  the  Gilmore  article  save 
only  that  he  states  that  Gilmore  and  Jaquess  claimed  to  be 
acting  under  the  authority  of  President  Lincoln.  This  claim, 
however,  is  contradicted  by  the  letter  of  the  envoys  request- 
ing an  interview  with  Mr.  Davis.  Mr.  Benjamin  says: 

"The  President  (Jefferson  Davis)  came  to  my  office  at  9 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  Colonel  Ould  came  a  few  moments 
later  with  Messrs.  Jaquess  and  Gilmore.  The  President  said 
to  them  that  he  had  heard,  from  me,  that  they  came  as  mes- 
sengers of  peace  from  Mr.  Lincoln;  that  as  such  they  were 
welcome ;  that  the  Confederacy  had  never  concealed  its  desire 


134    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

for  peace,  and  that  he  was  ready  to  hear  whatever  they  had 
to  offer  on  that  subject.  .  .  .  The  President  answered  that 
as  these  proposals  had  been  prefaced  by  the  remark  that  the 
people  of  the  North  were  a  majority,  and  that  a  majority 
ought  to  govern,  the  offer  was,  in  effect,  a  proposal  that  the 
Confederate  States  should  surrender  at  discretion,  admit  that 
they  had  been  wrong  from  the  beginning  of  the  contest,  sub- 
mit to  the  mercy  of  their  enemies,  and  avow  themselves  to  be 
in  need  of  pardon  for  crimes ;  that  extermination  was  prefer- 
able to  such  dishonor.  .  .  .  That  the  separation  of  the  states 
was  an  accomplished  fact ;  that  he  had  no  authority  to  receive 
proposals  for  negotiations  except  by  virtue  of  his  office  as 
President  of  an  independent  Confederacy,  and  on  this  basis 
alone  must  proposals  be  made  to  him."11 

Jefferson  Davis'  version  in  his  "Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Con- 
federate Government,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  610,  corroborates  both  Mr. 
Gilmore  and  Mr.  Benjamin  as  to  the  terms  discussed.12 

ERRORS  CORRECTED 

Very  remarkable  indeed  was  the  vigilance  with  which 
President  Lincoln  guarded  and  kept  all  knowledge  of  this 
movement  within  the  narrowest  possible  limits.  This  rigidly 
maintained  secrecy,  while  necessary  to  its  success,  was  pro- 
ductive of  one  very  undesirable  result  in  that  the  President's 
private  secretaries,  because  of  their  lack  of  knowledge  of  the 
embassy  and  of  President  Lincoln's  interest  and  part  in  it, 
were  unable  to  write  its  history  with  the  accuracy  and  faith- 
fulness that  characterizes  the  monumental  record  of  war-time 
events  of  which  they  had  personal  knowledge. 

Those  very  worthy  gentlemen  in  their  great  work,  "Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  A  History,"  in  referring  to  Colonel  Jaquess,  say: 
"With  some  force  of  character  and  practical  talent,  his  piety 

11  Benjamin  to  Mason,  August  25th,   1864,  Richmond  Daily  Dispatch, 
August  26th,  1864. 

12  Nicolay    and    Hay,    Abraham    Lincoln,    A    History,    Vol.    IX.,    pp. 

2II-2I2. 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  135 

and  religious  enthusiasm  touched  that  point  of  development 
which  causes  men  to  be  classed  as  fanatics  or  prophets  as 
success  or  failure  waits  on  the  unusual  efforts  to  which  they 
sometimes  dedicate  themselves." 

This  classes  Colonel  Jaquess  as  a  prophet,  seeing  that 
his  "unusual  efforts"  were  marvelously  successful,  but  as  I 
have  shown,  and  as  is  admitted  in  a  statement  by  these  same 
authors  in  their  "History,"  and  copied  on  a  later  page  of  this 
chapter,  such  a  designation  of  Colonel  Jaquess,  though  not 
intended  by  them,  does  not  seriously  conflict  with  the  follow- 
ing characterization  of  the  Colonel  by  General  Rosecrans: 
"He  is  a  hero — John  Brown  and  Chevalier  Bayard  rolled  into 
one,  and  polished  up  with  common  sense  and  a  knowledge  of 
Greek,  Latin  and  the  Mathematics."13 

The  same  "History"  further  affirms:  "Instead  of  trusting 
to  Church  influence  he  (Colonel  Jaquess)  at  once  addressed 
himself  to  the  ordinary  military  channels  for  communication 
with  the  South."  Of  course  he  did.  Colonel  Jaquess  never 
intimated  that  he  had  any  thought  of  "trusting  to  church 
influence"  to  enable  him  to  proceed  on  his  journey.  When 
he  first  asked  for  permission  to  engage  in  this  work  he  said: 
"God  has  laid  the  duty  upon  me,"  but  like  the  "remarkably 
level-headed  man"  Mr.  Lincoln  declared  him  to  be,  and  like 
the  true  soldier  he  was,  he  said  in  the  same  letter:  "If  He 
puts  it  into  the  hearts  of  my  superiors  to  allow  me  to  do  so 
I  shall  be  thankful."  Colonel  Jaquess  was  an  officer  in  the 
Army,  and  never  for  a  moment  had  he  lost  sight  of  the  fact 
that  he  was  subject  to  military  orders.  As  Ezra  and  Nehemiah 
asked  permission  of  the  king  to  obey  the  call  of  God  to  go  to 
Jerusalem  to  restore  the  temple  and  the  walls  of  the  city, 
so  Colonel  Jaquess  applied  "to  the  ordinary  military  channels" 
as  the  only  method  by  which  he  had  any  right  to  proceed  with 
the  work  to  which  he  was  well  assured  that  he  had  been 
divinely  called. 

In  referring  to  Colonel  Jaquess'  letter  to  President  Lin- 

13  Down  in  Tennessee,  p.  240. 


136    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

coin  from  Baltimore,  the  "History"  says:  "But  Mr.  Lincoln 
did  not  need  any  further  report  from  Colonel  Jaquess.  To 
his  quick  eye  this  brief  letter  told  all  the  writer  intended  to 
communicate,  and  much  more  which  his  blinded  enthusiasm 
could  not  comprehend.  .  .  .  The  President  could  not  make 
himself  a  party  to  the  well  meant  but  dangerous  petty  intrigue. 
Colonel  Jaquess  was  left  strictly  to  his  own  course,  and  after 
waiting  at  Baltimore  till  his  patience  was  exhausted,  he  re- 
turned to  his  regiment  in  the  West  to  do  better  service  as  a 
soldier  than  as  a  diplomat."14 

These  very  uncomplimentary  and  disparaging  references 
to  Colonel  Jaquess  and  his  return  to  his  regiment  should  be 
read  in  connection  with  the  statement  that  Colonel  Jaquess, 
at  that  time,  reached  his  regiment  just  in  time  for  the  bloodiest 
battle  of  the  war — the  Battle  of  Chattanooga,  in  which  he  per- 
formed as  heroic  and  signal  service  as  marked  the  record  of 
any  leader  of  a  thousand  men,  in  any  battle  of  the  war. 

The  intimation  in  the  "History"  that  the  President's 
failure  to  answer  Colonel  Jaquess'  letter  from  Baltimore  was 
due  to  his  lack  of  interest  in  the  movement  and  his  wish  not 
to  hear  further  from  the  Colonel  relative  to  that  matter,  is 
answered  by  the  statement  that  when  on  the  ist  of  April, 
1864,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  asked  why  he  did  not  answer  Colonel 
Jaquess'  letter  sent  him  from  Baltimore,  he  promptly  and  with 
manifest  surprise  said:  "I  never  received  his  letter."  This 
fully  explains  why  Colonel  Jaquess  did  not  receive  a  reply 
to  the  letter  sent  the  President  after  his  return  from  his  first 
mission.  That  letter,  as  will  be  seen,  was  withheld  from  the 
President  by  his  secretary,  who,  at  that  time,  was  in  charge 
of  his  mail.  It  was  natural  and  prudent,  as  I  have  already 
stated,  for  that  secretary,  knowing  nothing  of  the  Jaquess 
matter,  to  regard  this  letter  as  one  which  should  not  be  given 
to  the  President;  but  the  facts  as  here  set  forth  explain  the 
matter  fully  and  show  Mr.  Lincoln's  great  interest  in  the 
mission  and  the  difficulties  which  he  encountered  in  giving  it 

14  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  IX.,  pp.  204-205. 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION          137 

encouragement  and  aid  without  giving  embarrassing  recog- 
nition of  the  Confederacy. 

When  President  Lincoln  read  Colonel  Jaquess'  letter  to 
Mr.  Gilmore,  in  which  he  referred  to  his  letter  sent  the  Presi- 
dent from  Baltimore,  Mr.  Lincoln  very  earnestly  said:  "He 
has  got  something  worth  hearing.  What  a  pity  it  is  that  they 
did  not  give  me  that  letter." 

Concerning  Colonel  Jaquess'  proposition  said  "History" 
says:  "President  Lincoln  saw  clearly  enough  the  futility  of  all 
such  projected  negotiations."  But  President  Lincoln,  as  before 
stated,  when  this  matter  was  first  considered  by  him,  declared 
that  the  proposition  was  "the  first  gleam"  of  hope  he  had 
obtained,  and  "that  the  higher  powers  were  about  to  take  a 
hand  in  this  business  and  bring  about  a  settlement."  And  as 
shown  by  his  attitude  toward  this  enterprise  from  the  first, 
it  elicited  and  held  Jhis  interest  and  secured  from  him  all  the 
encouragement  and  assistance  he  could  wisely  give  to  it. 

That  it  was  understood  by  those  who  were  associated  with 
Mr.  Lincoln  in  this  enterprise  that  the  President  gave  it  his 
approval  is  shown  by  the  following  statement  of  General 
Garfield  in  a  letter  dated  June  i7th,  1863:  "Colonel  Jaquess 
has  gone  on  his  mission.  The  President  approved  it,  though, 
of  course,  he  did  not  make  it  an  official  matter." 

In  the  "History,"  the  plan  which  Jaquess  and  Gilmore 
submitted  to  Jefferson  Davis  is  spoken  of  as  "the  plan  of  ad- 
justment which  their  imagination  had  devised  and  which  was 
as  visionary  as  might  be  expected  from  the  joint  effort  of  a 
preacher  and  a  novelist.  .  .  .  Mr.  Lincoln  had  not  thought 
of  nor  hinted  at  any  such  scheme  to  Mr.  Gilmore,  and  he 
would  not  and  could  not  have  accepted  it  even  if  it  had  been 
agreed  to  or  offered  by  the  rebels."15 

Fully  to  correct  this  serious  error  it  is  only  necessary  to 

remember  that  on  the  preceding  pages  of  this  chapter  it  is 

shown  that  the  plan  thus  characterized  by  the  authors  of  the 

"History"  was  carefully  prepared  by  President  Lincoln  him- 

15  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  209. 


138    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

self  at  a  conference  held  by  him  with  Hon.  Salmon  P.  Chase 
and  that  it  had  the  approval  of  that  distinguished  statesman. 
"Visionary"  indeed  must  have  been  the  plan  thus  prepared 
and  approved !  The  report  of  the  interview  with  Davis,  which 
in  the  above  quoted  paragraph  is  spoken  of  so  disparagingly, 
was  published  at  the  suggestion  of  the  President  and  Senator 
Charles  Sumner,  who  was  with  Mr.  Lincoln  at  the  White 
House  when  that  report  was  presented  by  Mr.  Gilmore.  And 
at  Mr.  Lincoln's  request  the  proof  pages  of  that  report  were 
submitted  to  him  for  revision  before  publication. 

"History"  speaks  slightingly  of  Mr.  Gilmore  as  a  "novel- 
ist." True,  Mr.  Gilmore  wrote  some  very  attractive  and  in- 
structive books  of  fiction,  but  he  was  none  the  less  a  great 
statesman.  So  did  John  Hay;  but  John  Hay  was  none  the 
less  a  very  efficient  private  secretary  for  President  Lincoln, 
and  became  a  great  historian  and  one  of  the  ablest  and  most 
effective  diplomats  in  the  history  of  the  nation. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  when  on  the  6th  day  of  July, 
1864,  Mr.  Lincoln  decided  to  permit  the  embassy  to  go  to 
Richmond  to  seek  to  "draw  Davis'  fire,"  he  realized  that  it 
would  require  great  ability  and  adaptability,  together  with 
wide  political  experience,  to  accomplish  that  result.  He 
therefore  insisted  that  Mr.  Gilmore  should  be  the  man  to 
whom  that  difficult  work  should  be  entrusted.  This  ought 
to  be  a  sufficient  testimonial  to  Mr.  Gilmore's  measurements 
and  to  his  high  standing  in  the  President's  estimation. 

On  the  25th  of  July,  1864,  only  a  few  days  after  the 
return  of  Jaquess  and  Gilmore,  just  after  the  declarations  of 
Davis  had  been  given  nation-wide  publicity,  President  Lin- 
coln in  a  letter  to  Abram  Wakeman,  Postmaster  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  referred  to  the  Confederate  Commissioners  at 
Niagara  Falls  as  follows:  "Who  could  have  given  them  this 
confidential  employment  but  he  who  only  a  week  since  declared 
to  Jaquess  and  Gilmore  that  he  had  no  terms  of  peace  but  the 
independence  of  the  South — the  dissolution  of  the  Union."18 
16  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  171. 


THE  JAQUESS-GILMORE  MISSION  139 

This  reference  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  Davis  declarations 
indicates  his  full  confidence  in  the  disclosures  made  in  Gil- 
more's  report  of  the  interview  with  the  Confederate  chieftain. 

Furthermore,  the  authors  of  "History,"  in  the  chapter  of 
that  work  devoted  to  the  Jaquess-Gilmore  mission  in  showing 
Mr.  Lincoln's  views  of  the  Niagara  Falls  commission,  quoted 
the  foregoing  passage  from  his  letter  to  Abram  Wakeman. 
How  those  authors,  knowing  President  Lincoln's  confidence  in 
the  disclosures  of  that  mission,  could  have  written  as  they 
did  respecting  this  matter  must  forever  remain  a  mystery. 

"History"  says:  "The  President  would  not  even  give  the 
Colonel  a  personal  interview."  It  was,  as  the  reader  under- 
stands, only  to  avoid  publicity  that  Mr.  Lincoln  refused  to 
have  Colonel  Jaquess  call  at  the  White  House.  But  when  he 
sent  these  two  volunteer  envoys  out  upon  their  dangerous  trip 
he  said  to  Mr.  Gilmore:  "Tell  Colonel  Jaquess  that  I  omit  his 
name  from  the  pass  on  account  of  the  talk  about  his  previous 
trip;  and  I  wish  you  would  explain  to  him  my  refusal  to  see 
him.  I  want  him  to  feel  kindly  to  me.'* 

A  CONCLUSIVE  CONFESSION 

At  the  close  of  the  chapter  devoted  to  the  Jaquess-Gilmore 
mission,  "History"  says:  "On  the  whole  this  volunteer  embassy 
was  of  service  to  the  Union.  In  the  pending  Presidential 
campaign  the  mouths  of  the  peace  factionists  were  to  a  great 
extent  stopped  by  the  renewed  declaration  of  the  chief  rebel 
that  he  would  fight  for  separation  to  the  bitter  end."17 

And  that  is  precisely  the  purpose  for  which  Mr.  Gilmore 
joined  this  embassy,  and  it  was  to  accomplish  that  result  that 
President  Lincoln  gave  these  envoys  the  permission  and  as- 
sistance which  enabled  them  to  pass  the  army  lines  and  visit 
Richmond.  This  was  fully  stated  and  understood  at  the  time 
Mr.  Lincoln,  on  July  6th,  1864,  consented  to  the  mission  and 
insisted  that  Gilmore  and  not  Jaquess  was  the  one  to  get 

17  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  213. 


140   LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

from  Davis  the  declarations  that  would  stop  the  mouths  of 
those  who  were  claiming  that  the  Confederates  were  willing 
to  accept  peace  without  disunion. 

When  that  declaration  was  secured  by  this  mission  all 
that  was  hoped  for  by  President  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Gilmore  was 
accomplished.  The  admission  in  "History"  that  "on  the  whole 
this  volunteer  embassy  was  of  service  to  the  Union,"  by 
silencing  the  clamors  of  the  advocates  of  a  Confederate- 
favoring  peace  is  unwittingly  a  confession  that  the  mission 
was  a  success  and  is  a  testimonial  to  the  wisdom  and  courage 
of  the  men  who  conducted  it. 

I  regret  the  necessity  of  correcting  as  I  have  the  unfor- 
tunate errors  which  from  lack  of  full  information  were  pub- 
lished in  the  inestimable  Nicolay  and  Hay  biography  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  but  I  have  endeavored  to  do  so  in  a  spirit 
and  manner  consistent  with  the  high  esteem  I  cherish  for  that 
great  work  and  for  its  able  and  worthy  authors. 

All  the  facts  stated  in  this  history  of  the  Jaquess-Gilmore 
Mission  are  matters  of  authentic  record  and  prove  conclu- 
sively that  under  God  the  disclosures  of  that  Mission  respect- 
ing the  purposes  of  the  Confederate  leaders  accomplished  the 
re-election  of  President  Lincoln  and  the  preservation  of  the 
Federal  Union.  And  to  the  two  God-fearing  men — Colonel 
James  F.  Jaquess  and  James  R.  Gilmore — who  with  such 
manifest  wisdom  and  skill  conducted  that  mission  to  its  suc- 
cessful issue,  the  nation  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  which  can 
only  be  fittingly  paid  by  a  true  appreciation  of  their  motives, 
efforts  and  achievements. 

No  event  in  our  nation's  history  more  clearly  shows  the 
special  favor  of  God,  and  Abraham  Lincoln's  transcendent 
ability  and  religious  faith  than  does  this  wonderful  embassy 
of  peace. 


rv 

LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE 

IN  Mr.  Lincoln's  thought  slavery  and  intemperance  were 
closely  associated.    He  frequently  referred  to  these  two 
great  evils,  and  his  attitude  to  intemperance,  like  his 
attitude  to  slavery,  is  worthy  of  universal  imitation.    As  the 
hand  that  wrote  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  never  held 
title  to  a  slave,  so  the  lips  that  pleaded  eloquently  for  total 
abstinence  were  never  polluted  by  any  alcoholic  beverage.    No 
feature  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  life  is  more  wonderful  than 

His  LIFELONG  ABSTINENCE 

from  the  use  of  strong  drink.  During  the  early  years  of  his 
life  habitual  liquor-drinking  was  almost  universal  on  the 
frontier  where  he  lived.  Conditions  as  they  existed  are  thus 
described  by  him  in  his  address  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Washingtonian  Society,  February  22nd, 
1842:  "When  all  such  of  us,  as  have  now  reached  the  years 
of  maturity,  first  opened  our  eyes  upon  the  stage  of  existence, 
we  found  intoxicating  liquor,  recognized  by  everybody,  used 
by  everybody,  and  repudiated  by  nobody.  It  commonly  en- 
tered into  the  first  draught  of  the  infant,  and  the  last  draught 
of  the  dying  man.  From  the  sideboard  of  the  parson,  down 
to  the  ragged  pocket  of  the  houseless  loafer,  it  was  con- 
stantly found.  Physicians  prescribed  it  in  this,  that,  and  the 
other  disease.  Government  provided  it  for  its  soldiers  and 
sailors;  and  to  have  a  rolling  or  raising,  a  husking  or  hoe- 
down  anywhere  without  it  was  positively  insufferable. 

"So,  too,  it  was  everywhere  a  respectable  article  of  manu- 
facture and  of  merchandise.    The  making  of  it  was  regarded 


142    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

as  an  honorable  livelihood ;  and  he  who  could  make  most  was 
the  most  enterprising  and  respectable.  Large  and  small  man- 
ufactories of  it  were  everywhere  created,  in  which  all  the 
earthly  goods  of  their  owners  were  invested.  Wagons  drew 
it  from  town  to  town — boats  bore  it  from  clime  to  clime,  and 
the  winds  wafted  it  from  nation  to  nation;  and  merchants 
bought  and  sold  it,  by  wholesale  and  by  retail,  with  precisely 
the  same  feelings,  on  the  part  of  seller,  buyer,  and  bystander, 
as  are  felt  at  the  selling  and  buying  of  flour,  beef,  bacon,  or 
any  other  of  the  real  necessaries  of  life.  Universal  public 
opinion  not  only  tolerated,  but  recognized  and  adopted  its  use. 

"It  is  true,  that  even  then,  it  was  known  and  acknowledged 
that  many  were  greatly  injured  by  it;  but  none  seemed  to  think 
that  the  injury  arose  from  the  use  of  a  bad  thing,  but  from 
the  abuse  of  a  very  good  thing.  The  victims  to  it  were  pitied, 
and  compassionated,  just  as  now  are,  heirs  of  consumption, 
and  other  hereditary  diseases.  Their  failing  was  treated  as  a 
misfortune,  and  ndt  as  a  crime,  or  even  as  a  disgrace." 

Not  only  was  strict  sobriety  almost  unknown  among  those 
early  pioneers  with  whom  Mr.  Lincoln's  lot  was  cast,  but  to 
abstain  from  the  use  of  liquor  was  to  attract  attention  and 
invite  severe  criticism,  if  not  ridicule.  Sometimes  the  ab- 
stainer was  subjected  to  insults  and  violence ;  and  such  indig- 
nities were  not  confined  to  the  frontier  sections.  Rev.  A. 
Bristol,  a  man  of  exceptional  worth  and  one  of  the  most 
beloved  ministers  upon  the  Pacific  Coast,  in  "The  Pioneer 
Preacher,"  gives  a  graphic  account  of  the  violence  with  which 
he  was  treated  by  his  fellow  students  in  Oberlin  College 
because  of  his  total  abstinence  convictions  and  habits.  And 
there  was  little  effort  to  create  a  better  state  of  public  senti- 
ment concerning  the  use  of  intoxicants.  Many  ministers  and 
leading  church  people  were  habitual  drinkers,  and  the  attitude 
of  the  church  towards  intemperance  was  not  such  as  to  create 
a  vigorous  protest  against  the  prevailing  drinking  customs. 

Yet,  even  in  childhood,  Abraham  Lincoln  espoused  the 
cause  of  total  abstinence,  and  never  deviated  a  hair's  breadth 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  143 

from  its  principles.  He  not  only  refused  to  drink  when  invited 
to  do  so,  but,  when  only  a  small  boy,  he  delivered  temperance 
lectures  to  his  playmates  which  gave  promise  of  his  later 
achievements  as  a  public  speaker.  That  he  continued  ever 
faithful  to  the  cause  of  total  abstinence  is  settled  beyond 
all  honest  doubt  by  his  declarations  to  Leonard  Swett  that 
he  "never  drank  nor  tasted  a  drop  of  alcoholic  liquor  of  any 
kind."1 

And  it  is  very  significant  that  this  declaration  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  made  to  one  of  his  personal  friends  during  his 
Presidency  and  given  to  the  world  by  Mr.  Swett  in  a  care- 
fully written  statement,  has  never  been  weakened  by  any 
counter  testimony. 

In  1847,  while  a  member  of  Congress,  he  was  remonstrated 
with  by  a  fellow  member  for  declining  to  partake  of  some  rare 
wines  which  had  been  provided  by  their  host,  when  he  replied 
that  he  meant  no  disrespect,  but  he  had  made  a  solemn  promise 
to  his  mother  only  a  few  days  before  her  death  that  he  would 
never  use  as  a  beverage  anything  intoxicating,  and  "I  con- 
sider that  pledge,"  said  he,  "as  binding  today  as  it  was  the 
day  I  gave  it." 

When  the  specious  argument  was  used  that  conditions  in 
his  mature  manhood  and  in  a  home  of  refinement  were  unlike 
those  under  which  he  made  that  promise  in  childhood,  Mr. 
Lincoln  stated:  "But  a  promise  is  a  promise  forever  and  when 
made  to  a  mother  it  is  doubly  binding."  It  required  a  great 
degree  of  courage,  and  an  unyielding  purpose,  for  an  ambitious 
young  member  of  Congress  thus  to  disregard  the  requirements 
of  fashionable  society  at  Washington,  and  be  true  to  his  total 
abstinence  convictions  and  covenants. 

Mr.  Murat  Halstead,  an  able  and  distinguished  journalist, 
states  that  when  on  September  I7th,  1859,  Mr.  Lincoln  spoke 
in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  a  number  of  young  republicans  called 
upon  him  at  his  rooms  in  the  Burnett  House,  and  during  the 
interview  one  of  their  number  ordered  cigars  and  liquor  for 

1  Reminiscences  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  463. 


144    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  company,  which,  by  oversight,  were  charged  to  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's account  with  the  hotel.  "This  displeased  him  very 
much,"  and  in  letters  which  Mr.  Halstead  saw  and  character- 
izes as  "well  written  and  extremely  to  the  point,"  Mr.  Lin- 
coln expressed  to  the  young  gentlemen  his  disapproval  of  what 
had  been  done.  He  knew  nothing  of  the  affair  until  he  saw 
the  item  in  his  hotel  bill  and  he  felt  he  could  not  permit  the 
matter  to  pass  unnoticed,  nor  allow  himself  to  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  something  which  he  had  not  authorized  and 
of  which  he  strongly  disapproved.2 

THE  SUPREME  TEST 

of  Mr.  Lincoln's  loyalty  to  his  total  abstinence  principles 
occurred  at  the  time  he  received  the  notification  of  nomination 
as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  1860.  As  it  was  an 
occasion  of  unusual  importance,  Mr.  Lincoln's  friends  at 
Springfield  kindly  offered  to  provide  liquors  for  what  they 
regarded  as  fitting  hospitality  to  the  distinguished  members 
of  the  notification  committee.  When  Mr.  Lincoln  learned  of 
their  purpose,  he  expressed  his  appreciation  of  their  well- 
meant  offer,  and  said:  "I  have  never  been  in  the  habit  of 
entertaining  my  friends  in  that  way  and  I  cannot  permit  my 
friends  to  do  for  me  what  I  will  not  myself  do.  I  shall  pro- 
vide cold  water — nothing  else."  Mr.  Lincoln's  Springfield 
friends  feared  that  his  proposed  strict  adherence  to  total 
abstinence  would  make  an  unfavorable  impression  upon  his 
distinguished  visitors,  yet  no  one  attempted  to  dissuade  him 
from  his  declared  purpose;  and  when  the  notification  cere- 
monies were  concluded  he  extended  the  hospitalities  of  his 
home  to  all  present  by  inviting  them  to  partake  of  what  he 
designated  as  "pure  Adam's  ale,  the  most  healthy  beverage 
God  has  given  to  men  and  the  only  beverage  I  have  ever 
used  or  allowed  my  family  to  use."  This  charming  little 
speech  made  a  favorable  impression  upon  his  visitors,  who 
seemed  to  enjoy  the  disclosure  to  them  of  their  candidate's 
2  Tributes  from  Lincoln's  Associates,  p.  58. 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  145 

sobriety  and  strong  moral  stamina.  The  incident  at  once 
attracted  nation-wide  attention,  but  was  soon  forgotten  in 
the  interest  and  excitement  of  the  great  campaign  and  the 
events  that  followed. 

The  press  of  the  nation  made  very  little  comment  on  the 
affair  and  the  interest  it  at  first  awakened  disappeared  so 
speedily  that  none  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  early  biographers  mention 
the  occurrence.  Mr.  Lincoln,  however,  gave  his  personal  tes- 
timonial to  its  correctness,  but  expressed  his  wish  that  the 
incident  be  not  given  large  publicity  lest  it  should  divert 
public  attention  from  the  far  greater  questions  then  before 
the  nation.  But  the  event  was  very  significant,  as  it  not 
only  bore  witness  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  habitual  abstinence  from 
the  use  of  alcoholic  beverages,  but  also  furnished  a  landmark 
along  the  path  of  progress  toward  temperance  reform. 

On  September  29th,  1863,  in  response  to  an  address  from 
the  Sons  of  Temperance,  President  Lincoln  said:  "If  I  were 
better  known  than  I  am,  you  would  not  need  to  be  told  that 
in  the  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  temperance  you  have  a  friend 
and  sympathizer  in  me.  When  I  was  a  young  man — long 
ago — before  the  Sons  of  Temperance  as  an  organization  had 
an  existence,  I,  in  a  humble  way,  made  temperance  speeches, 
and  I  think  I  may  say  that  to  this  day  I  have  never,  by  my 
example,  belied  what  I  then  said."3 

In  1865,  when  on  the  River  Queen  going  to  City  Point 
to  visit  General  Grant,  President  Lincoln  was  offered  some 
champagne  as  a  remedy  for  seasickness,  from  which  he  was 
suffering.  "No,  no,  my  young  friend,"  was  his  prompt  and 
emphatic  answer,  "I  have  seen  many  a  man  in  my  time  sea- 
sick ashore  from  drinking  that  very  article."4 

Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  needlessly  parade  his  total  abstinence 
convictions  and  habits  before  the  public,  but  in  his  personal 
conduct,  though  reserved  and  quiet,  he  was  as  unyielding  as 
adamant. 

3  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  144. 

4  Charles  Coffin,  Life  of  Lincoln,  p.  489. 


146    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

A  TEMPERANCE  LECTURER 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  only  a  lifelong  and  consistent  tee- 
totaler, but  he  was  a  zealous  champion  of  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance. From  childhood  until  his  voice  was  hushed  in  death 
he  was  heard  pleading  with  all  classes  to  refrain  from  the  use 
of  strong  drink.  He  gave  his  hearty  approval  of  every  organ- 
ization and  movement  for  the  promotion  of  temperance,  and 
in  his  home  city  of  Springfield  he  was  for  a  time  an  active 
member  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance.  Previous  to  that,  even 
"before  the  Sons  of  Temperance  as  an  organization  had  an 
existence,"  as  stated  by  him  in  an  address  to  a  delegation  of 
that  Society,  he  "made  temperance  speeches"  and  was  actively 
engaged  in  advocating  and  promoting  total  abstinence.  From 
that  early  period,  the  date  of  which  Mr.  Lincoln  does  not 
in  that  address  definitely  designate,  he  was  active  in  temper- 
ance work  until  1856,  at  which  time  he  began  to  devote  him- 
self with  great  energy  to  the  movement  against  the  extension 
of  slavery.  During  the  period  of  his  temperance  work  his 
efforts  were  chiefly  against  the  drink  habit,  although  he  fre- 
quently referred  very  significantly  to  the  drink  traffic,  and 
was  for  a  time,  as  hereinafter  shown,  very  active  in  promoting 
prohibition. 

His  FAMOUS  TEMPERANCE  SPEECH 

was  delivered  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Springfield, 
Illinois,  on  the  22nd  of  February,  1842.  It  was  a  masterly 
effort,  one  of  the  best  temperance  addresses  ever  published, 
and  the  first  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  great  speeches  to  appear  in 
print.  It  was  published  in  full  in  the  Sangamon  Journal  at 
Springfield,  March  26th,  1842,  and  is  in  Volume  I.  of  the 
Nicolay  and  Hay  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and 
has  been  many  times  reproduced  in  periodicals,  pamphlets  and 
bound  volumes.  It  is  such  a  complete  and  characteristic 
statement  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  views  on  temperance  that  when 
his  son,  Hon.  Robert  T.  Lincoln,  was  asked  by  the  Rev.  F. 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  147 

P.  Miller  for  his  father's  views  on  that  subject,  he  replied 
by. sending  him  a  copy  of  that  address. 

At  the  time  when  that  address  was  delivered,  Mr.  Lincoln 
had  just  passed  his  thirty-third  birthday  and  was  near  the 
close  of  his  eighth  and  last  year  as  a  member  of  the  Illinois 
legislature.  He  was  at  the  beginning  of  his  high  political 
aspirations,  yet  in  no  part  of  that  speech  is  there  the  least 
disclosure  of  timidity  or  of  that  caution  which  frequently 
is  manifest  in  discussion  of  the  great  reform  questions  by 
ambitious  politicians.  His  arraignment  of  the  liquor  traffic, 
while  dominated  by  a  spirit  of  charity,  is  as  vigorous,  and 
his  demands  for  the  support  of  all  good  citizens  in  temper- 
ance reform  as  unequivocal  and  imperative  as  those  of  the 
most  advanced  advocate  of  today.  Every  note  throughout 
the  address  rings  clear  and  true,  and  every  argument  and 
appeal  is  fully  up  to  date,  although  the  address  was  delivered 
nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago,  and  early  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  first  great  nation-wide  temperance  movement. 

Although  delivered  at  the  celebration  of  the  birthday  of 
George  Washington,  Mr.  Lincoln's  famous  temperance  lec- 
ture was  not  produced  by  that  occasion.  It  was  the  product 
of  many  years  of  deep  meditation  and  of  a  large  experience 
in  efforts  to  promote  sobriety  by  inducing  people  to  sign  a 
temperance  pledge.  It  stands  out  as  a  conspicuous  and  sig- 
nificant landmark  along  the  way  by  which  he  reached  his 
great  distinction.  It  was  given  at  the  high-noon  of  his  life, 
and  will  forever  remain  a  revelation  of  what  he  had  attained 
and  a  prophecy  of  what  he  was  to  become.  Every  glimpse 
we  have  of  his  attitude  to  the  cause  of  temperance  in  the 
years  that  followed  is  in  harmony  with  that  address. 

During  the  summer  of  1847  a  temperance  meeting  was 
held  by  Mr.  Lincoln  at  the 

SOUTH  FORKS  SCHOOLHOUSE 

in    Sangamon    County,    Illinois,    about    sixteen    miles    from 
Springfield.     He  had  been  invited  to  conduct  that  meeting 


148    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

by  Preston  Breckenridge,  one  of  the  prominent  farmers  of 
that  vicinity.  The  meeting  was  held  in  a  grove  near  the 
schoolhouse,  which  had  recently  been  erected,  and  was  at- 
tended by  the  country  people,  who  remained  standing  dur- 
ing the  exercises,  or  found  seats  upon  logs,  stumps  and 
branches  of  trees  fallen  to  secure  material  from  which  to 
erect  the  new  schoolhouse.  Mr.  Lincoln  was 

A  MEMBER  OF  CONGRESS 

at  the  time  he  conducted  that  meeting,  and  the  reputation 
he  had  gained  as  a  public  speaker  attracted  a  large  audience 
to  hear  his  address;  and  in  the  solemn  hush  produced  by  his 
superb  personality  and  the  fervor  of  his  eloquence,  the  bril- 
liant young  statesman  pointed  out  the  evils  of  intemperance 
and  earnestly  pleaded  with  old  and  young  to  sign  the  following 
total  abstinence  pledge: 

"Whereas,  The  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage 
is  productive  of  pauperism,  degradation  and  crime:  and  be- 
lieving it  is  our  duty  to  discourage  that  which  produces  more 
evil  than  good,  we  therefore  pledge  ourselves  to  abstain  from 
the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage." 

This  pledge  had  been  prepared  and  signed  by  Mr.  Lincoln, 
and  on  that  day  received  the  signatures  of  nearly  all  who 
were  present.  Moses  Martin,  a  farmer's  son,  nineteen  years 
of  age,  attended  that  meeting  and  was  so  impressed  by  Mr. 
Lincoln's  address  that  he  memorized  the  pledge  which  he 
signed,  and  at  the  launching  of  the  Lincoln-Legion*  at 
Oberlin,  Ohio,  in  1904 — fifty-seven  years  after  the  South 
Forks  meeting,  and  when  he  was  seventy-six  years  old — he 
led  that  great  audience  in  repeating  verbatim,  with  uplifted 
hands,  the  solemn  covenant  written,  signed  and  advocated  by 
Abraham  Lincoln. 

*  The  name  of  this  organization  has  since  been  changed  to  Lincoln- 
Lee  Legion,  to  commemorate  the  total  abstinence  principles  and  habits 
of  General  Robert  E.  Lee. 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  149 

Cleopas  Breckenridge,  a  ten-year-old  lad,  son  of  Preston 
Breckenridge,  before  referred  to,  was  also  present  at  that 
meeting  in  the  grove  and  was  so  deeply  moved  by  the  per- 
suasive address  to  which  he  listened  that  when  Mr.  Lincoln 
said  to  him,  "Sonny,  don't  you  want  your  name  on  this 
pledge?"  he  promptly  and  eagerly  answered  in  the  affirma- 
tive ;  but  being  unable  to  write,  his  name  was  written  for  him 
upon  the  pledge  by  the  hand  that  wrote  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  thus  binding  him  to  the  cause  of  temperance 
by  bonds  stronger  than  triple  steel.  And  when  far  advanced 
in  life,  at  the  launching  of  the  Lincoln-Legion  movement  at 
Oberlin,  already  referred  to,  he  declared  that  he  had  kept 
that  pledge  inviolate. 

Few  scenes  which  mark  the  career  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
are  more  expressive  and  significant  than  that  which  repre- 
sents him  as  standing  at  a  typical  frontier  gathering  beneath 
the  leafy  branches  of  a  beautiful  grove,  with  his  hand  upon 
the  head  of  this  ten-year-old  lad  whose  name  he  had  just 
written  upon  a  total  abstinence  pledge,  and  to  whom  he  is 
saying  in  tones  of  never-to-be-forgotten  tenderness,  "Now, 
sonny,  you  keep  that  pledge  and  it  will  be  the  best  act  of  your 
life." 

Dr.  Howard  H.  Russell,  founder  and  first  superintendent 
of  the  Anti-Saloon  League  of  America,  and  founder  and 
superintendent  of  the  Lincoln-Legion,  was  instrumental  in 
securing  and  making  public  information  relative  to  the  South 
Forks  temperance  meeting.  While  in  Springfield,  in  1900,  he 
visited  a  drug  store  kept  by  Mr.  Roland  Diller,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  seeing  the  desk  used  by  Abraham  Lincoln  while  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Illinois  legislature.  During  the  conver- 
sation with  Mr.  Diller,  Doctor  Russell,  for  the  first  time, 
heard  the  name  of  Cleopas  Breckenridge,  and  learned  that  he 
was  then  living  about  sixteen  miles  from  Springfield.  With 
characteristic  zeal,  he  prosecuted  his  search,  and  having  some 
time  later  secured  an  interview  with  Mr.  Breckenridge  at 
Springfield,  he  received  from  him  an  account  of  the  South 


150    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Forks  temperance  meeting.  To  the  facts  he  then  learned, 
further  information  was  added  until  the  fascinating  story 
was  obtained  in  its  entirety.  And  it  is  worthy  of  note  that 
this  story  contributed  largely  to  the  organization  of  the  Lin- 
coln-Legion branch  of  the  Anti-Saloon  League,  and  to  the 
choice  of  the  name  by  which  that  total  abstinence  movement 
is  known. 

In  August,  1903,  I  was  present  at  the  conference  of  Anti- 
Saloon  League  superintendents,  held  at  Winona  Lake,  when 
Doctor  Russell  read  a  written  statement  of  his  interview  with 
Mr.  Breckenridge,  and  asked  the  conference  to  approve  of 
the  proposed  Lincoln-Legion  movement,  which  was  done  with 
unanimity  and  great  enthusiasm.  Subsequently,  when  it  was 
decided  to  launch  the  new  movement  at  Oberlin,  Ohio,  where 
the  Anti-Saloon  League  was  born,  Doctor  Russell  secured  the 
presence  of  Moses  Martin  and  Cleopas  Breckenridge  at  that 
meeting,  where  they  publicly  gave  an  account  of  Lincoln's 
temperance  work  at  the  South  Forks  schoolhouse  and  at 
other  places  in  Central  Illinois.  To  the  alertness  and  un- 
tiring perseverance  of  Doctor  Russell  we  are  indebted  for  the 
priceless  information  he  secured  concerning  Abraham  Lin- 
coln's active  and  successful  participation  in  the  promotion  of 
the  pledge-signing  feature  of  temperance  reform. 

It  adds  immensely  to  the  unique  character  and  significance 
of  this  story  to  remember,  as  I  have  already  stated,  that  at 
the  time  of  the  South  Forks  meeting  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  very 
energetic  member  of  the  national  House  of  Representatives 
at  Washington,  and  a  promising  young  statesman. 

MAJOR  MERWIN'S  WORK 

Mr.  Lincoln's  great  interest  in  total  abstinence  was  never 
more  significantly  manifested  than  by  his  action  as  President 
in  furthering  the  temperance  work  of  Major  J.  B.  Merwin 
among  the  soldiers  in  the  Union  Army.  Major  Merwin  was  a 
rare  man.  With  his  pleasing  and  impressive  personality  were 
united  superior  intellectual  endowments  and  ripe  scholarship. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN    IN    1847 

Pledging   Cleopas   Breckenridge   to   total   abstinence.     From   a   drawing  by 

Arthur  I.  Keller. 

Courtesy  of  Dr.  Howard  H.  Russell. 

(See  page  140) 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  151 

He  was  the  founder  of  the  American  Journal  of  Education  at 
St.  Louis,  Missouri,  and  was  widely  known  as  a  lecturer  and 
writer  of  commanding  ability. 

In  1854  he  first  met  Abraham  Lincoln  at  Springfield, 
Illinois,  and  was  for  a  time  associated  with  him  in  a  work, 
fuller  mention  of  which  will  be  given  in  the  latter  portion 
of  this  chapter.  Mr.  Lincoln  became  so  strongly  attached  to 
this  refined  and  cultured  reformer  that  early  in  his  Presi- 
dency he  embraced  with  great  delight  the  opportunity  pre- 
sented of  securing  his  services  in  religious  and  temperance 
work  in  connection  with  the  army. 

The  opportunity  came  on  July  I7th,  1861,  when  there  was 
presented  to  President  Lincoln  a  request,  signed  by  prominent 
men,  asking  that  Major  Merwin  be  assigned  to  the  work  of 
inducing  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Union  Army  to  abstain 
from  the  use  of  alcoholic  liquors  as  a  beverage.  As  Mr. 
Lincoln  knew  that  the  Major  was  admirably  fitted  for  that 
work  the  request  met  with  his  hearty  response.  Knowing 
Major  Merwin  since  1854,  and  regarding  him  as  one  of  the 
ablest  and  most  successful  temperance  workers  he  ever  had 
known,  he  at  once,  and  very  gladly,  assured  him  of  his  hearty 
approval  of  the  work  he  proposed  to  do,  and  of  his  official 
co-operation  with  him  in  prosecuting  it.  To  make  this  assur- 
ance of  practical  value,  President  Lincoln  wrote  upon  the 
request  presented  to  him  the  following  endorsement: 

"If  it  be  ascertained  at  the  War  Department  that  the 
President  has  legal  authority  to  make  an  appointment  such 
as  is  asked  within,  and  Gen.  Scott  is  of  opinion  it  will  be  avail- 
able for  good,  then  let  it  be  done. 

"July  1 7th,  1861.  "A.  LINCOLN." 

To  this  endorsement  by  the  President  were  soon  added  the 
following: 

"I  esteem  the  mission  of  Mr.  Merwin  to  this  army  a  happy 
circumstance,  and  request  all  commanders  to  give  him  free 


152    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

access  to  all  our  camps  and  posts,  and  also  to  multiply  occa- 
sions to  enable  him  to  address  our  officers  and  men. 
"July  24,  1861.  "WINFIELD  SCOTT, 

"Department  of  Virginia." 

"The  mission  of  Mr.  Merwin  will  be  of  great  benefit  to 
the  troops,  and  I  will  furnish  him  with  every  facility  to 
address  the  troops  under  my  command.  I  hope  the  Gen'l 
commanding  the  army  will  give  him  such  official  position 
as  Mr.  Merwin  may  desire  to  carry  out  his  object. 

"August  8,  1861.  "B.  F.  BUTLER, 

"Maj.-Gen.  Com'd'g." 

These  endorsements  indicate  the  esteem  in  which  Major 
Merwin  was  held  by  men  of  high  rank  and  give  great  weight 
to  his  testimony  respecting  Mr.  Lincoln's  temperance  views 
and  activities. 

During  the  Major's  work  in  Washington  he  frequently 
addressed  gatherings  of  soldiers  from  the  President's  carriage, 
the  use  of  which  was  given  him  by  Mr.  Lincoln  for  that 
purpose.  General  Scott  was  very  enthusiastic  in  his  approval 
and  encouragement  of  this  work,  and  after  hearing  the  Major 
address  the  soldiers  several  times,  he  remarked  to  President 
Lincoln:  "A  man  of  such  force  and  moral  power  to  inspire 
courage,  patriotism,  faith  and  obedience  among  the  troops 
is  worth  more  than  a  half  dozen  regiments  of  raw  recruits." 

The  President  watched  Major  Merwin's  work  in  the  army 
with  keen  interest,  for  he  believed  in  total  abstinence,  he  had 
confidence  in  the  devout,  Christian  man  who  was  conducting 
that  work,  and  being  desirous  of  affording  him  every  facility 
for  prosecuting  it,  issued  the  following  very  remarkable  order: 

"Surgeon  General  will  send  Mr.  Merwin  wherever  he  may 
think  the  public  service  may  require. 

"July  24,  1862.  "A.  LINCOLN/' 


HOWARD   H.    RUSSELL,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Founder   and   first    superintendent    of   the   Anti-Saloon  League  and    of  the 

Lincoln-Lee  Legion. 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  153 

When  in  November,  1913,  Major  Merwin  addressed  a 
great  Anti-Saloon  League  convention  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  a 
solemn  and  impressive  silence  fell  upon  the  assembly  when 
the  venerable  educator  and  reformer  took  from  his  pocket 
an  old  Daguerreotype  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  in  which  was 
enclosed  the  above  order  in  President  Lincoln's  handwriting; 
and,  trembling  with  weakness  and  emotion,  deliberately  and 
distinctly  read  its  fifteen  words  with  the  date  and  signature. 
This  little  missive  spoke  volumes  respecting  Abraham  Lincoln's 
profound  interest  in  temperance  work,  which  seemed  of  suf- 
ficient importance  to  call  forth  the  hearty  and  unqualified 
written  commendation  of  more  than  one  hundred  of  the  most 
prominent  senators,  representatives,  governors  and  leading 
citizens  of  the  nation. 

REFUSED  TO  SELL  LIQUOR 

Hon.  Leonard  Swett,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the 
information  here  given,  was  one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  staunch 
and  constant  friends.  He  was  a  man  of  unquestioned  and  un- 
questionable integrity  and  a  very  learned  and  distinguished 
lawyer.  Any  word  from  him  respecting  Abraham  Lincoln 
may  well  be  accepted  as  trustworthy.  He  was  personally 
familiar  with  all  the  events  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  early  life,  and 
in  an  article  prepared  by  him  for  a  monumental  work,  pub- 
lished in  1888  by  the  North  American  Review,  and  edited 
by  Allan  Thorndyke  Rice,  editor  of  that  magazine,  Mr.  Swett 
states  that  when,  in  1833,  Mr.  Lincoln's  business  partner 
proposed  to  add  liquors  to  their  articles  of  merchandise,  Mr. 
Lincoln  strenuously  objected,  and  carried  his  opposition  to 
the  extent  of  withdrawing  from  the  partnership.  The  fol- 
lowing is  Mr.  Swett's  statement  in  the  article  mentioned: 

"A  difference,  however,  soon  arose  between  him  and  the 
old  proprietor,  the  present  partner  of  Lincoln,  in  reference 
to  the  introduction  of  whiskey  into  the  establishment.  The 
partner  insisted  that,  on  the  principle  that  honey  catches  flies, 
a  barrel  of  whiskey  in  the  store  would  invite  custom,  and 


154    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

their  sales  would  increase,  while  Lincoln,  who  never  liked 
liquor,  opposed  this  innovation.  He  told  me,  not  more  than 
a  year  before  he  was  elected  President,  that  he  had  never 
tasted  liquor  in  his  life.  'What!'  I  said,  'do  you  mean  to 
say  you  never  tasted  it?'  'Yes,  I  never  tasted  it.'  The 
result  was  that  a  bargain  was  made  by  which  Lincoln  should 
retire  from  his  partnership  in  the  store.  He  was  to  step  out 
as  he  stepped  in.  He  had  nothing  when  he  stepped  in,  and 
he  had  nothing  when  he  stepped  out.  But  the  partner  took 
all  the  goods,  and  agreed  to  pay  all  the  debts,  for  a  part  of 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  become  jointly  liable." 

In  1908,  twenty  years  after  this  statement  was  first  pub- 
lished, the  German-American  Alliance,  a  liquor-favoring  or- 
ganization, in  its  zeal  to  connect  the  name  of  Lincoln  with 
the  liquor  traffic,  with  a  great  flourish  of  trumpets,  published 
a  facsimile  of  the  liquor  license  which  Berry,  Lincoln's  part- 
ner, secured.  The  license  "ordered  that  William  F.  Berry, 
in  the  name  of  Berry  &  Lincoln,  have  a  license  to  keep  a 
tavern  in  New  Salem,"  where  Lincoln  then  resided. 

The  wording  of  this  license  shows  that  it  was  given  to 
William  F.  Berry,  and  though  "in  the  name  of  Berry  &  Lin- 
coln," Mr.  Swett's  statement  shows  that  Lincoln  peremptorily 
refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it.  Other  evidence  of 
his  determination,  even  at  that  early  day,  not  to  be  in  any 
way  connected  with,  or  responsible  for  the  sale  of  alcoholic 
liquors  is  seen  in  his  refusal  to  sign  the  bond  which  the  Alli- 
ance published  in  connection  with  the  license.  To  the  bond 
was  attached  the  names  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  William  F. 
Berry  and  Bowling  Greene.  But  the  fascimile  reproduction 
of  that  bond  as  published  by  the  Alliance  shows  that  Lincoln's 
name  was  not  written  by  himself,  but  was  probably  written 
by  Berry. 

The  world  owes  an  immense  debt  of  gratitude  to  the 
American-German  Alliance  for  its  publication  of  a  facsimile 
reproduction  of  that  historic  liquor  seller's  bond.  Before 
that  publication,  the  reading  public  had  learned  from  authentic 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  155 

history  the  truth,  as  I  have  here  stated  it,  about  the  tavern 
license,  and  Miss  Ida  M.  Tarbell,  who  saw  the  bond  in  the 
official  records,  had  declared  that  Lincoln's  name  was  not 
attached  to  it  by  his  own  hand.  But  it  is  exceedingly  gratify- 
ing to  have  her  statement  confirmed  by  the  facsimile  of  Lin- 
coln's name  attached  to  that  bond  unquestionably  by  some 
other  hand. 

This  is  a  very  significant  event  in  the  early  life  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  and  should  not  fail  to  receive  the  reader's  care- 
ful consideration.  At  the  time  these  events  occurred  he  was 
an  unmarried  man,  only  twenty-four  years  of  age,  with  a 
very  limited  education,  without  means,  without  occupation 
apart  from  the  unprofitable  business  in  which  he  was  then 
engaged,  having  never  held  any  public  office,  with  no  family 
standing  or  personal  reputation  to  sustain,  without  any 
thought  of  future  prominence  that  might  make  it  especially 
desirable  for  his  life  to  be  as  faultless  as  possible  at  that 
period ;  with  no  active  temperance  sentiment  in  the  community 
where  he  lived,  and  without  an  associate  to  suggest  or  approve 
his  decision.  And  yet,  he  promptly  arose  to  heroic  proportions 
of  purposeful  manhood,  and  stubbornly  refused  to  have  any 
participation  or  part  in  the  traffic  in  strong  drink.  Viewed  in 
connection  with  conditions  and  known  influences  his  course  in 
this  matter  seems  to  have  been  the  result  of  special  divine 
interposition. 

The  attempts  which  have  been  made  to  connect  him  with 
the  liquor  traffic  through  those  early  business  affairs  have  only 
caused  his  name  to  shine  with  a  brighter  luster  and  his  conduct 
to  appear  as  revealing  marvelous  wisdom  and  fidelity. 

It  is  a  very  defective  and  misleading  history  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  that  does  not  contain  the  information  that  he  was 

AN  ARDENT  PROHIBITIONIST 

There  are  three  classes  of  temperance  workers,  those  who 
favor  the  promotion  of  total  abstinence  by  inducing  people, 
young  and  old,  to  sign  a  total  abstinence  pledge;  those  who 


156    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

believe  in  restriction  and  "regulation"  of  the  liquor  traffic 
by  license  tax  and  kindred  methods ;  and  those  who  believe  in 
the  enactment  and  enforcement  of  laws  absolutely  forbidding 
the  manufacture,  importation  and  sale  of  all  alcoholic  liquors 
for  beverage  purposes. 

Mr.  Lincoln  belonged  to  the  first  and  third  of  these 
classes;  he  was  personally  a  lifelong  teetolater,  sought  to 
promote  total  abstinence  by  others,  and  as  a  means  for  the 
promotion  of  temperance  he  believed  in  and  advocated  "moral 
suasion  for  the  drunkard  and  legal  suasion  for  the  liquor 
seller."  He  was  quite  as  pronounced  in  his  prohibition  views 
and  declarations  as  in  his  advocacy  of  total  abstinence. 

Mr.  Lincoln  never  belonged  to  the  Prohibition  Party — 
there  was  no  such  party  in  his  day — but  long  before  that  party 
was  organized,  before  any  state  had  a  prohibitory  law,  before 
any  great  temperance  organization  was  seeking  to  secure  such 
a  law,  he  was  advocating  the  theories  of  government  and 
proclaiming  the  principles  of  law  that  are  the  immovable 
foundation  upon  which  the  nation-wide  prohibition  movement 
of  the  present  time  is  based.  As  early  as  1842,  in  his  famous 
Washingtonian  speech  at  Springfield,  he  said:  "Whether  or 
not  the  world  would  be  vastly  benefited  by  a  total  and  final 
banishment  from  it  of  all  intoxicating  drinks,  seems  to  me 
not  now  to  be  an  open  question.  Three-fourths  of  mankind 
confess  the  affirmative  with  their  tongues,  and,  I  believe,  all 
the  rest  acknowledge  it  in  their  hearts."  This  declaration 
was  a  message  from  the  total  abstinence  camp  of  the  temper- 
ance army  calling  for  governmental  re-enforcement  in  the 
battle  then  in  progress  to  save  men  from  the  destructive  re- 
sults of  the  legalized  traffic  in  strong  drink. 

THE  HISTORICAL  SETTING 

of  this  impassioned  cry  for  help  reveals  its  immense  signifi- 
cance. It  was  a  wail  of  anguish  in  the  heat  of  an  arduous 
and  unsatisfactory  struggle  against  overwhelming  odds.  The 
address  itself  was  in  the  interest  and  under  the  auspices  of 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  157 

the  Washingtonian  Total  Abstinence  movement,  which  began 
in  Baltimore  two  years  before,  and  had  made  great  progress 
throughout  the  nation.  It  began  its  work  among  men  addicted 
to  the  excessive  use  of  strong  drink,  iand  its  recruits  were 
gathered  from  that  class.  Mr/  Lincoln  gladly  welcomed  this 
movement  and  entered  enthusiastically  .into  its  activities.  He 
was  pleased  with  its  dominating  spirit  and  greatly  delighted 
with  its  achievements.  His  heart  was  filled  With  joy  when 
he  saw  it  so  successful  that,  as  Senator  Blair  tells  us,  "In  a 
few  years  six  hundred  thousand  drunkards  had  been  re- 
formed."5 

But  he  must  have  been  shocked  and  saddened  when  he 
learned 

THE  APPALLING  FACT 

that,  as  the  same  authority  states,  "three-fourths  of  their 
number  soon  turned  back  to  their  cups  and  to  conditions  worse 
than  those  from  which  they  had  been  recruited."8 

Confronted  with  the  fact  that  the  great  Washingtonian 
movement,  the  total  abstinence  features  of  which  he  had  with 
good  reason  extolled  to  the  skies,  was  able  to  hold  to  lives 
of  sobriety  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  of  its  six 
hundred  thousand  recruits,  while  the  saloons  succeeded  in 
luring  back  into  drunkenness  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
of  their  former  victims  who  had  signed  the  total  abstinence 
pledge,  Mr.  Lincoln's  practical  mind,  with  tireless  diligence, 
sought  a  more  efficient  remedy  for  the  liquor  curse. 

He  placed  a  high  estimate  upon  the  influence  for  good  of 
the  new  associations  into  which  these  reformed  men  had  come ; 
but  he  knew  there  must  be  a  mighty  power  somewhere  behind 
the  liquor  traffic  itself,  giving  it  the  tremendous  strength 
by  which  it  was  enabled  to  storm  the  citadels  of  the  reform 
forces,  and  drag  back  to  re-enslavement  three-fourths  of  those 
who  with  high  resolve  had  taken  the  total  abstinence  pledge 

5  The  Temperance  Movement,  p.  435. 

6  Ibid.,  p.  435. 


158    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

and  entered  upon  a  life  of  sobriety  and  honor.  And  he  was 
not  long  in  discovering  that  the  thing  which  gave  the  saloon 
its  measureless  power  for  evil  was  civil  government.  He 
also  learned  to  his  utter  amazement  "that  many  of  the  most 
zealous  and  active  promoters  of  the  Washingtonian  movement 
discouraged  all  resort  to  the  enactment  and  enforcement  of 
laws  against  the  traffic."7 

Senator  Blair,  commenting  on  this  fact,  in  his  excellent 
work,  says:  "And  who  knows  that  the  demoralization  of 
public  sentiment  which  the  Washingtonians  created  in  their 
opposition  to  legal  restraint  was  not  the  principal  reason  why 
the  cup  of  temptation  and  destruction  was  again  put  to  the  lips 
of  the  450,000  who  fell  and  perished  in  that  last  state  which 
is  worse  than  the  first?"8 

Mr.  Lincoln's  patient  soul  was  greatly  troubled  when  he 
came  to  realize  that  state  and  city  governments  were  arrayed 
against  him  in  his  kindly  efforts  to  rescue  his  neighbors  from 
intemperance.  With  great  love  and  tenderness  he  had  prose- 
cuted that  work,  and  the  holy  passion  which  burned  in  his 
heart  burst  into  a  flame  of  righteous  indignation  when  he  saw 
many  of  those  who  had  been  rescued  cruelly  snatched  from 
the  embraces  of  their  rescuers  and  borne  away  in  triumph 
by  the  licensed  liquor  forces.  His  great  heart  bled  in  pity, 
while  his  mighty  brain  diligently  sought  a  remedy  for  a  wrong 
so  monstrous. 

He  had  thus  been  brought  face  to  face  with  the  destruc- 
tive influence  and  work  of  the  legalized  liquor  traffic,  and  the 
unspeakable  wrong  of  governmental  complicity  in  that  traffic. 
But  he  never  acted  hastily.  He  always  took  time  to  make 
diligent  investigation  before  entering  upon  any  great  work, 
or  announcing  any  important  conviction.  He  had  deliberately 
reached  the  conclusion  which  he  repeatedly  proclaimed,  that 
intemperance  was  the  greatest  curse  that  ever  afflicted  the 
human  race;  he  well  knew  that  the  liquor  traffic  was  strong, 
and  very  securely  entrenched  in  the  commercial  interests  of 

7  The  Temperance  Movement,  p.  435.        8  Ibid.,  p.  436. 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  159 

state  and  nation,  and  that  it  would  fight  furiously  against 
any  and  all  efforts  to  reduce  its  privileges  and  powers. 
Therefore,  he  did  not  regard  it  as  wise  to  bring  on  a  general 
engagement  with  the  enemy  before  making  a  most  thorough 
preparation  for  the  battle  royal  that  would  follow.  He  fore- 
saw a  struggle  between  right  and  wrong  involving  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  law,  and  the  sacred  functions  of  civil 
government.  He  knew  there  would  be  an  immense  work  of 
public  enlightenment  required  before  a  decisive  victory  could 
be  won.  To  prepare  for  aiding  that  work  he  gave  himself 
with  all  diligence  to  the  study  of  foundation  principles  as 
taught  by  the  best  authorities.  His  course  of  study  is  re- 
vealed by  his  speeches  during  later  years,  which  show  that 
his  basic  conception  of  governmental  polity  and  procedure 
rested  upon  the  scriptural  declaration  that  the  purpose  of 
civil  government  is  "the  punishment  of  evil  doers  and  the 
praise  of  them  that  do  well,"  and  Blackstone's  declaration 
that  law  is  "a  rule  of  civil  conduct  prescribed  by  the  supreme 
power  of  a  state  commanding  what  is  right  and  prohibiting 
what  is  wrong." 

As  Mr.  Lincoln  prosecuted  his  studies  during  the  twelve 
years  between  1842  and  1854,  he  discovered  that  every  rep- 
utable authority  upon  law  and  civil  jurisprudence  in  all 
civilized  history  constructed  all  their  theories  of  government 
in  absolute  and  perfect  accord  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of 
those  two  declarations.  And  his  mind  became  saturated  with 
the  conviction  that  government  in  all  its  branches  and  ac- 
tivities should  be  as  the  scriptures  say,  "The  minister  of  God 
to  thee  for  good,  an  avenger  executing  wrath  upon  him  that 
doeth  evil."  He  could  not  escape  the  conclusion  to  which 
those  studies  conducted  him,  and  which  he  repeatedly  stated 
in  after  years,  that  no  wrong  can  rightfully  be  given  the 
sanction  and  protection  of  civil  government;  and  that  the 
beverage  liquor  traffic,  being  wrong,  must  be  forbidden  and 
as  fully  as  possible  prohibited  by  civil  government.  These 
convictions  became  such  a  tremendous  working  force  in  Mr. 


i6o    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Lincoln's  mind  and  heart  that  he  longed  for  the  opportunity 
to  proclaim  them,  with  conditions  favorable  to  good  results. 
In  1855  the  opportunity  came. 

THE  MAINE  PROHIBITORY  LAW 

had  been  enacted,  and  was  proving  so  effective  and  satisfac- 
tory that  in  other  states  movements  to  secure  the  enactment 
of  a  similar  law  sprang  into  being  and  were  conducted  with 
great  vigor  and  enthusiasm.  In  Illinois  such  a  movement  was 
inaugurated,  and  in  1854  Major  Merwin,  of  whose  total 
abstinence  work  I  have  already  spoken,  visited  that  state  to  aid 
in  the  campaign  for  prohibition.  His  first  meeting  was  held 
in  the  old  State  House,  in  Springfield,  and  was  attended  by 
a  notable  audience.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  present,  and  at  the 
close  of  Major  Merwin's  address,  in  response  to  repeated 
calls  he  came  forward  and  held  all  who  were  present  in  rapt 
attention,  while  he  luminously  expounded  to  them  the  prin- 
ciples of  law  and  the  purposes  and  functions  of  government, 
which  he  had  diligently  studied  during  the  twelve  preceding 
years.  In  that 

OLD  STATE  HOUSE  ADDRESS 

Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "The  law  of  self -protection  is  the  first  and 
primary  law  of  civilized  society.  Law  is  for  the  protection, 
conservation  and  extension  of  right  things,  of  right  conduct, 
not  for  the  protection  of  evil  and  wrongdoing.  The  state 
must  in  its  legislative  action  recognize  this  truth  and  protect 
and  promote  right  conditions  and  right  conduct.  This  it  will 
accomplish  not  by  any  toleration  of  evils,  not  by  attempting 
to  throw  around  any  evil  the  shield  of  law ;  nor  by  any  attempt 
to  license  the  evil.  This  is  the  first  and  most  important 
function  in  the  legislation  of  the  modern  state.  The  pro- 
hibition of  the  liquor  traffic,  except  for  medical  and  mechanical 
purposes,  thus  becomes  the  new  evangel  for  the  safety  and 
redemption  of  the  people  from  the  social,  political  and  moral 
curse  of  the  saloon." 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  161 

CAMPAIGN  FOR  PROHIBITION 

The  coming  of  Major  Merwin  to  Illinois  for  the  purpose 
of  aiding  in  the  campaign  for  state-wide  prohibition,  and  his 
first  meeting,  at  which  the  above  statements  were  made  by 
Mr.  Lincoln,  were  exceedingly  timely.  The  campaign  for 
prohibition,  of  which  that  was  the  opening  gun,  found  him 
well  prepared  to  render  yeoman  service.  His  great  interest 
in  the  cause  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  at  the  close  of  the  meet- 
ing he  invited  Major  Merwin  to  be  his  guest,  and  devoted 
nearly  the  whole  night  to  examining,  with  him,  a  copy  of  the 
Maine  Law,  and  in  commenting  upon  its  provisions.  And 
during  the  months  that  followed  he  engaged  actively  in  the 
campaign,  using  in  his  speeches  the  same  arguments  and  illus- 
trations that  were  so  effectively  employed  by  him  four  years 
later  in  his  debates  with  Douglas. 

At  Jacksonville,  Bloomington,  Decatur,  Danville,  Carlin- 
ville,  Peoria,  and  many  other  important  centers  of  the  state 
he  addressed  meetings  at  which  Major  Merwin  also  spoke. 
And  sometimes  with  other  speakers,  but  frequently  alone,  he 
continued  to  advocate  with  great  zeal,  and  as  constantly  as 
his  professional  work  would  permit,  the  cause  of  prohibition, 
until  the  election  in  the  early  summer  of  1855.  With  the 
results  of  the  election  Mr.  Lincoln  was  sorely  disappointed, 
especially  the  defeat  of  the  prohibitory  law.  Of  this  he  spoke 
with  great  sorrow  in  a  letter  to  Judge  Whitney,  dated  June 
7th,  1855. 

During  this  campaign  Mr.  Lincoln  frequently  made  use 
of  the  following  statements:  "This  legalized  liquor  traffic, 
as  carried  on  in  the  saloons  and  grogshops,  is  the  tragedy 
of  civilization.  Good  citizenship  demands  and  requires  that 
what  is  right  should  not  only  be  made  known,  but  be  made 
prevalent ;  and  that  what  is  evil  should  not  only  be  defeated, 
but  destroyed.  The  saloon  has  proved  itself  to  be  the  greatest 
foe,  the  most  blighting  curse  of  our  modern  civilization,  and 
this  is  why  I  am  a  practical  prohibitionist. 


162    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

"We  must  not  be  satisfied  until  the  public  sentiment  of 
this  state,  and  the  individual  conscience  shall  be  instructed  to 
look  upon  the  saloonkeeper  and  the  liquor  seller,  with  all  the 
license  each  can  give  him,  as  simply  and  only  a  privileged 
malefactor — a  criminal. 

"The  real  issue  in  this  controversy,  the  one  pressing  upon 
every  mind  that  gives  the  subject  careful  consideration,  is 
that  legalizing  the  manufacture,  sale  and  use  of  intoxicating 
liquors  as  a  beverage  is  a  wrong — as  all  history  and  every 
development  of  the  traffic  proves  it  to  be — a  moral,  social, 
and  political  wrong." 

His  attitude  towards  the  saloon  may  be  summed  up  in  his 
striking  and  laconic  expression,  "The  liquor  traffic  has  de- 
fenders but  no  defense." 

The  Hon.  Elihu  B.  Washburne,  one  of  the  ablest  and  most 
influential  men  of  Illinois  during  the  war  period,  and  long 
into  the  eighties,  was  one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  devoted  friends. 
There  is,  therefore,  peculiar  significance  in  the  statement 
which  he  makes  that  "when  the  whole  truth  is  disclosed  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  life  during  the  years  1854-55  it  will  throw  the 
flood  of  new  light  on  the  character  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  will 
add  new  luster  to  his  greatness  and  his  patriotism."  In  this 
statement  Mr.  Washburne  must  have  referred  to  the  work 
for  prohibition  in  Illinois,  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  engaged 
during  those  years,  for  there  was  nothing  else  in  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's life  during  that  period  to  justify  such  a  statement. 

A  DYNAMIC  DELIVERANCE 

was  the  speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln  at  Clinton,  Illinois,  in  1855 
in  defense  of  fifteen  women  of  that  city  who  were  being 
prosecuted  by  a  saloonkeeper  under  an  indictment  for  the 
destruction  of  his  property.  They  had  entered  his  saloon 
together  and  with  axes  and  hammers  had  smashed  bottles, 
barrels  and  demijohns  after  he  had  persisted  in  selling  their 
husbands  liquor,  in  spite  of  their  tearful  entreaties  that  he 
would  cease  to  do  so.  Mr.  Lincoln,  being  present,  watched 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  163 

the  trial  with  great  interest.  He  was  not  employed  to  defend 
the  accused  women,  but  as  their  case  was  not  being  satis- 
factorily conducted,  he  consented  to  address  the  court  and  jury 
in  their  defense,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said:  "In  this 
case  I  would  change  the  order  of  the  indictment  and  have  it 
read,  The  State  vs.  Mr.  Whiskey,  instead  of  The  State  vs. 
The  Ladies,  and  touching  this  question  there  are  three  laws: 
First,  the  law  of  self-protection;  second,  the  law  of  the  stat- 
ute; third,  the  law  of  God.  The  law  of  self-protection  is  the 
law  of  necessity,  as  shown  when  our  fathers  threw  the  tea 
into  the  Boston  Harbor,  and  in  asserting  their  right  to  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  This  is  the  defense 
of  these  women.  The  man  who  has  persisted  in  selling 
whiskey  has  had  no  regard  for  their  well-being  or  the  welfare 
of  their  husbands  and  sons.  He  has  had  no  fear  of  God  or 
regard  for  man;  neither  has  he  had  any  regard  for  the  laws 
of  the  statute.  No  jury  can  fix  any  damage  or  punishment 
for  any  violation  of  the  moral  law.  The  course  pursued  by 
this  liquor  dealer  has  been  for  the  demoralization  of  society. 
His  groggery  has  been  a  nuisance.  These  women,  finding 
all  moral  suasion  of  no  avail  with  this  fellow,  impervious  to  all 
tender  appeal,  alike  regardless  of  their  prayers  and  tears,  in 
order  to  protect  their  households  and  promote  the  welfare 
of  the  community,  united  to  suppress  the  nuisance.  The 
good  of  society  demanded  its  suppression.  They  accomplished 
what  otherwise  could  not  have  been  done." 

In  his  life  of  Lincoln,  Wm.  H.  Herndon,  Lincoln's  law 
partner,  in  giving  an  account  of  this  trial,  says:  "Lincoln 
gave  some  of  his  own  observations  on  the  ruinous  effects  of 
whiskey  on  society."9 

Never  were  the  reasons  which  call  for  the  enactment  and 
enforcement  of  laws  prohibiting  the  beverage  liquor  traffic 
stated  with  greater  clearness  than  in  that  speech  which  was 
made  by  Abraham  Lincoln  three  years  before  his  debates  with 
Douglas.  Its  statements  of  law,  its  characterization  of  the 
9  Vol.  II.,  pp.  12,  13. 


164    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

saloon,  its  full  and  fearless  enunciation  of  human  rights  and 
duties,  and  its  felicitous  and  forceful  language,  place  it  in  a 
class  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  best  literary  productions.  It  has 
stood  for  more  than  three  score  years  and  will  ever  stand  a 
sufficient  and  unanswerable  argument  against  the  perpetua- 
tion of  the  saloon.  It  contains  nothing  that  could  be  wisely 
omitted,  and  lacks  nothing  which  the  most  advanced  enlight- 
enment can  supply.* 

Mr.  Lincoln's  participation  in  the  campaign  for  prohibition 
in  Illinois  in  1854-55  was  inevitable.  With  his  strong  altru- 
istic impulses,  his  attitude  of  uncompromising  hostility  to  the 
liquor  traffic,  and  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  divine  origin 
and  sacred  mission  of  civil  government,  he  could  not  have 
remained  silent  while  such  a  movement  was  in  progress  in  his 
state. 

His  championship  of  the  Maine  law  was  quite  unlike  that 
of  other  speakers.  Although  I  was  only  seventeen  years  old 
at  that  time,  I  was  upon  the  platform  advocating  prohibition 
in  my  native  Ohio,  and,  like  other  speakers,  I  depicted  the 
harmfulness  of  the  liquor  traffic  and  the  beneficent  results 
of  anti-liquor  legislation;  but  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  his  speeches, 
went  to  the  foundation  of  the  subject  and  demanded  pro- 
hibition upon  the  fundamental  principle  that  as  the  declared 
mission  and  purpose  of  law  was  to  promote  right  and  prohibit 
wrong,  government  could  not  rightfully  sustain  to  the  bever- 
age liquor  traffic  any  other  attitude  than  that  of  absolute  and 
unyielding  hostility.  His  participation  in  that  campaign  for 
prohibition  in  Illinois  was  the  legitimate  and  logical  result 
of  all  his  previous  life,  and,  as  we  shall  see  later  in  this 
chapter,  was  also  in  perfect  accord  with  the  position  which 
he  maintained  during  all  the  years  that  followed. 

There  is  ample   reason   for  believing  that  Mr.   Lincoln 

*It  will  be  observed  that  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  attempt  to  disprove 
any  of  the  charges  made  against  the  women,  but  assuming  they  had  done 
as  was  alleged,  he  insisted  that  it  was  a  justifiable  act  of  self-defense, 
and  the  court  evidently  concurred  in  that  opinion,  for  the  saloon  smashers 
were  released  and  nothing  more  was  ever  heard  of  the  prosecution. 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  165 

looked  upon  his  public  participation  in  that  campaign  for 
prohibition  as  the  beginning  of  a  work  which  he  would  con- 
tinue to  prosecute  with  diligence  during  succeeding  years. 
He  was  not  the  man  to  engage  in  a'  battle  with  the  intention 
of  turning  back  before  the  victory  was  won.  He  had  been 
for  years  anticipating  a  day  of  nation-wide,  even  world-wide, 
triumph,  v/hen  there  would  not  be  one  slave  or  one  drunkard 
in  all  the  world.  He  had  expressed  the  hope  for  the  coming 
of  such  a  day  in  his  famous  Washingtonian  speech  in  1842, 
and  the  declaration  of  that  aspiration  and  hope  was  more 
than  a  lofty  flight  of  eloquence;  it  was  a  prophetic  vision 
which  he  beheld  as  he  wrought  untiringly  against  the  two 
great  evils — slavery  and  intemperance,  which  were  ever  as- 
sociated in  his  thoughts  and  purposes.  And  that  his  vision 
of  the  day  of  victory  was  connected  with  a  purpose  to  aid 
as  he  might  be  able  in  hastening  its  coming,  is  shown  by  his 
letter  to  Pickett,  written  on  the  day  he  delivered  that  address, 
in  which  is  found  the  slogan:  "Recruit  for  victory."  The 
unfolding  of  a  muster-roll  for  recruits  to  the  antislavery  and 
anti-liquor  armies  implied  that  his  own  name  had  in  his  pur- 
poses been  entered  in  the  list  of  volunteers  to  serve  during 
the  war  against  the  two  evils.  Everything  goes  to  show  that 
it  was  at  that  time  his  purpose  to  continue  actively  in  the 
struggle  for  prohibition.  But  he  was  abruptly  turned  aside 
from  his  purpose  by  the  unexpected  entrance  into  the  pro- 
slavery  propaganda  of  a  movement  for  the  extension  of 
slavery.  The  contest  thus  suddenly  brought  on  was,  in  Mr. 
Lincoln's  opinion,  foremost  and  supreme,  and  he  turned  from 
all  else — even  from  his  professional  work,  to  resist  the  aggres- 
sions of  the  slave  power. 

MR.  LINCOLN'S  SPECIAL  PREPARATION 

That  he  entered  the  arena  thoroughly  prepared  for  that 
battle  of  giants  every  one  knows;  that  his  special  prepara- 
tion was  made  during  the  twelve  years  between  his  retirement 
from  public  life  in  1842  and  the  introduction  by  Douglas 


166    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  in  1854,  which  brought  on  the 
contest,  is  also  beyond  question.  But  during  that  period  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  not  engaged  either  in  any  warfare  against  slavery 
or  in  preparation  for  such  a  warfare.  He  was  always  op- 
posed to  slavery,  but  he  was  debarred  by  the  national  Con- 
stitution from  interfering  with  it  in  the  states  where  it 
existed.  And  nothing  pertaining  to  slavery  was  an  issue 
before  the  people  during  those  years.  There  was,  therefore, 
no  occasion,  either  actual  or  prospective,  for  Mr.  Lincoln  to 
be  engaged  in  a  preparation  for  such  a  contest;  but  there 
were  many  reasons  why  he  should  be  engaged  in  making 
the  most  ample  preparation  for  a  titanic  struggle  with  the 
traffic  in  strong  drink. 

And  with  such  strength  of  intellect;  with  such  absolute 
and  unswerving  honesty;  with  such  profound  sincerity,  and 
with  such  patient  perseverance  did  Mr.  Lincoln  prosecute  his 
studies  in  preparation  for  the  latter  that  there  came  a  time 
when  it  could  truthfully  be  said  that  in  all  the  world  there 
was  not  his  superior  in  a  knowledge  of  fundamental  law  and 
its  application  to  the  responsibilities  and  duties  of  civil  gov- 
ernment. 

Douglas  had  devoted  years  to  preparation  for  defending 
his  Popular  Sovereignty  theories,  and  with  all  the  world 
in  ignorance  of  his  plans  for  the  extension  of  slavery  no  one 
was  preparing  to  answer  his  arguments  in  defense  of  his 
cherished  schemes.  He  cunningly  stole  a  march  on  the  forces 
of  freedom  and  took  them  and  the  nation  by  surprise  when 
in  1854  he  rushed  into  the  arena  with  his  Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill,  thoroughly  prepared  to  defend  it  with  its  slavery-favor- 
ing repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  But  to  his  great 
surprise  and  to  the  amazement  of  the  nation,  he  was  met  by 
Lincoln  more  fully  prepared  than  himself  for  the  conflict, 
and  able,  through  his  familiarity  with  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  law  to  expose  his  sophistry  and  fully  answer  his 
arguments. 

Douglas  was  the  master-mind  of  his  party  and  was  accus- 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  167 

tomed  to  encounters  with  Sumner,  Seward,  Chase  and  other 
scarcely  less  distinguished  associates  in  the  senate  of  the 
United  States.  But  when  he  grappled  with  Lincoln  in  discus- 
sion he  declared  him  to  be  without  a  peer  in  his  knowledge 
of  the  fundamental  principles  of  government.  "You  under- 
stand these  questions  better  than  does  any  other  man  in  the 
nation,"  said  Douglas  to  Lincoln  after  their  first  encounter 
in  the  fifties,  and  the  "Little  Giant"  asked  for  and  secured 
a  truce  with  Lincoln  during  the  remainder  of  the  campaign. 
He  could  successfully  cope  with  the  strongest  antislavery 
champions  in  the  senate,  but  he  felt  himself  overmastered  when 
he  encountered  Lincoln. 

The  nation  was  amazed  at  Lincoln's  wonderful  equipment 
for  the  struggle  with  Douglas.  But  the  people  of  Illinois, 
who  before  the  debates  with  Douglas  had  heard  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's speeches  for  temperance  reform,  knew  that  it  was  by 
his  painstaking  and  prolonged  studies  of  prohibition  that  he 
had  attained  to  the  matchless  mastery  of  fundamental  truth 
which  made  him  the  foremost  champion  of  freedom  in  the 
struggles  against  the  extension  of  slavery.  The  thunder- 
bolts of  law  and  logic  with  which  he  demolished  the  Popular 
Sovereignty  fallacy  which  Douglas  had  so  skillfully  con- 
structed, were  prepared  by  Lincoln  to  be  used  by  him  in  bom- 
barding the  entrenchments  which  civil  government  had  built 
around  the  liquor  traffic. 

It  is  recorded  that  a  ranchman  in  Africa,  when  he  dis- 
covered that  a  lion  was  preying  upon  his  herds,  went  out 
suitably  armed  to  slay  the  marauder.  As  he  proceeded  in 
his  hunt  a  huge  tiger  leaped  from  the  jungle  and  bore  down 
upon  him  with  the  evident  purpose  of  gratifying  his  man- 
eating  propensities.  Promptly  the  hunter  turned  upon  the 
tiger  the  heavily-loaded  gun  he  intended  for  the  lion,  and 
found  it  quite  equal  to  the  unexpected  emergency.  He  killed 
the  tiger  with  the  weapon  he  had  prepared  for  the  slaughter 
of  the  lion.  By  substituting  the  liquor  traffic  for  the  lion  and 
slavery  for  the  tiger  in  this  fragment  of  history  we  have 


168   LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  story  of  Lincoln's  unconscious  preparation  for  his  con- 
test with  Douglas  and  his  successful  warfare  against  slavery. 

And  in  his  last  interview  with  Major  Merwin,  on  the  day 
of  his  assassination,  he  referred  to  that  statement  in  his  speech 
in  1842,  and  said:  "After  reconstruction  the  next  great  ques- 
tion will  be  the  overthrow  of  the  liquor  traffic." 

The  declaration  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  party  in  1856  that 
polygamy  and  slavery  were  "twin  relics  of  barbarism,"  did 
not  to  any  great  extent  absorb  his  attention,  for  he  had  long 
regarded  the  liquor  traffic  as  the  only  wrong  sufficiently 
heinous  to  be  designated  as  the  twin  of  slavery.  Hence,  his 
opposition  to  the  liquor  traffic  was  based  upon  the  same  fun- 
damental principles  as  was  his  warfare  against  slavery.  And 
when  he  was  prepared  successfully  to  advocate  prohibition 
he  was  fully  equipped  to  oppose  slavery;  nor  can  that  traffic 
remain  one  hour  under  the  protection  or  by  the  permission 
of  law  without  a  violation  of  the  sacred  obligations  of  civil 
government  as  stated  and  expounded  by  Abraham  Lincoln 
in  his  warfare  against  slavery. 

THE  REPUBLICAN  NATIONAL  PLATFORMS 

of  1856  and  1860  state  clearly  and  unequivocally  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  the  movement  for  the  prohibition  of  the 
liquor  traffic  is  based.  The  platform  of  1856  declared  "that 
the  Constitution  confers  upon  Congress  sovereign  power  over 
the  Territories  of  the  United  States  for  their  government." 
To  that  claim  the  national  convention  of  1860  added  the  fol- 
lowing: "We  deny  the  authority  of  Congress,  of  a  Territorial 
legislature,  or  of  any  individual  to  give  legal  existence  to 
slavery  in  any  territory  of  the  United  States." 

Standing  upon  these  two  planks  of  his  party's  national 
platforms  of  principles,  Abraham  Lincoln,  in  1860,  was  tri- 
umphantly elected  President  of  the  United  States  and  neither 
he  nor  his  party  ever  receded  or  deviated  from  the  position 
taken  in  those  two  declarations. 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  169 

Sovereign  right  to  govern,  but  not  the  right  to  give  legal 
standing  to  slavery!  There  must  have  been  some  good  and 
sufficient  ground  for  denying  the  authority  of  Congress  to 
give  legal  existence  to  slavery  in  the  realm  over  which  it 
had  sovereign  power  to  rule.  That  ground  was  many  times 
and  very  clearly  stated  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  be  "the  assumption 
that  slavery  is  wrong." 

Because  it  was  wrong,  and  for  no  other  reason,  it  was 
held  that  slavery  could  not  be  given  legal  existence  in  the 
territories  of  the  nation.  For  the  same  reason  slavery  could 
not  rightfully  be  admitted  in  any  portion  of  the  national 
domain  where  it  did  not  at  that  time  exist.  This  is  implied 
in  the  above  declaration  of  th£  republican  party  as  explained 
and  defended  by  Abraham  Lincoln.  And  as  that  declaration 
of  the  republican  party  respecting  slavery  is  based  upon  fun- 
damental law,  it  must  be  true  that  no  power  has  the  right 
to  give  legal  existence  to  any  admitted  wrong.  This  was  Mr. 
Lincoln's  belief,  and  he  repeatedly  applied  that  rule  to  the 
liquor  traffic.  He  regarded  that  traffic  as  inherently  wrong, 
and  advocated  its  prohibition  upon  that  ground.  In  so  doing 
he  was  simply  applying  to  another  evil  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples upon  which  he  opposed  the  extension  of  slavery. 

OPPOSED  TO  LICENSE 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  always  opposed  to  the  license  method 
of  dealing  with  the  liquor  traffic.  There  is  no  word  from  him, 
either  written  or  spoken,  in  approval  of  that  system. 

During  his  campaign  for  a  prohibitory  law  in  Illinois  in 
1854-55  he  kept  it  before  the  people  that  a  license  tax  could 
not  fail  to  fasten  the  liquor  traffic  more  securely  upon  the 
community.  He  was  very  pronounced  in  his  declarations  that 
such  would  be  the  case.  It  is  remarkable  that  while  high 
license  was  first  suggested  and  approved  by  temperance  work- 
ers as  a  means  for  promoting  temperance  reform,  and  has  been 
advocated  by  distinguished  champions  of  temperance  even  in 
recent  years,  when  the  matter  was  first  brought  to  his  atten- 


170   LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

tion,  Mr.  Lincoln  emphatically  declared  that  every  dollar  paid 
by  the  saloon  as  a  license  tax  would  be  an  entrenchment  for 
the  liquor  traffic  and  make  it  more  difficult  ever  to  suppress  it. 
"Never  by  licensing  an  evil  can  the  evil  be  removed  or  weak- 
ened," was  his  oft-repeated  declaration  during  his  efforts 
to  secure  the  adoption  of  a  prohibitory  law  by  the  people  of 
that  state  in  1855.  Mr.  Lincoln  saw  this  clearly  even  at  that 
early  date,  because  of  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  government  and  the  inevitable  result  of 
taking  tribute  of  that  which  is  wrong.  His  whole  nature 
revolted  against  the  thought  of  the  license  system,  and  as  a 
young  politician  and  reformer  I  learned  from  his  teachings 
the  exceedingly  objectionable  and  harmful  nature  of  the 
liquor  license  policy.  And  if  during  later  years,  in  my 
hostility  to  the  license  system,  I  have  at  times  been  in  advance 
of  some  of  my  associates  in  the  temperance  work,  it  has  been 
because  of  my  unyielding  adherence  to  the  teachings  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln. 

Mr.  Lincoln  strenuously  objected  also  to  the  section  of 

THE  INTERNAL  REVENUE  MEASURE 

that  placed  a  tax  upon  alcoholic  liquors  for  the  support  of 
the  national  government.  "That  tax,"  said  he,  "will  tend 
to  perpetuate  the  liquor  traffic  and  I  cannot  consent  to  aid  in 
doing  that." 

"But,"  said  Secretary  Chase,  the  author  of  that  revenue 
law,  "Mr.  President,  this  is  a  war  measure.  It  is  only  a  tem- 
porary measure  for  a  present  emergency,  and  cannot  fasten 
the  liquor  traffic  upon  the  nation,  for  it  will  be  repealed  as 
soon  as  the  war  is  ended." 

While  that  Internal  Revenue  bill  was  under  consideration 
in  Congress  it  was  well  known  that  President  Lincoln,  for 
reasons  already  stated,  was  strongly  opposed  to  its  liquor 
license  provision  and  was  inclined  to  veto  the  measure  unless 
that  feature  was  removed.  He  did  not  mince  matters,  but 
was  very  pronounced  and  outspoken  in  the  expression  of  his 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  171 

convictions.  This  is  quite  remarkable,  in  view  of  the  low 
level  of  moral  purpose  in.  governmental  affairs  entertained  by 
many  leading  statesmen  of  that  period.  That  low  level  of 
moral  purpose  is  indicated  by  the  following  declarations  of 
Senator  Fessenden  of  Maine,  chairman  of  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee of  the  Senate  and  subsequently  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury. On  the  27th  of  May,  1862,  in  his  defense  of  the  liquor 
tax  provision  of  the  Internal  Revenue  bill,  Senator  Fessenden 
said: 

"The  United  States  looking  at  it  as  a  fact  that  this  busi- 
ness as  a  business  is  carried  on,  and  looking  upon  the  luxuries 
and  the  vices  of  men  as  the  most  proper  sources  of  revenue 
in  the  world,  just  lay  their  hands  upon  it  and  say,  if  you  will 
do  these  things  you  shall  pay  for  it;  we  lay  a  tax  upon  it." 

The  declaration  that  "the  vices  of  men,"  as  well  as  their 
luxuries,  "are  the  most  proper  sources  of  revenue  in  the 
world,"  constitutes  a  very  dark  background  on  which  appears 
the  illuminated  and  thrilling  picture  of  President  Lincoln's 
attitude  upon  that  question.  And  the  President  was  not  alone 
in  his  hostility  to  the  liquor  license  tax ;  able  and  distinguished 
statesmen  like  Senators  Wilson,  Pomeroy  and  Harris,  with 
others  scarcely  less  prominent  and  influential,  very  strongly 
opposed  that  tax  upon  alcoholic  liquors.  On  May  27th,  1862, 
Senator  Wilson,  who  subsequently  became  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States,  in  discussing  this  feature  of  the  Revenue 
bill,  said: 

"I  do  not  think  any  man  in  this  country  should  have  a 
license  from  the  Federal  Government  to  sell  intoxicating 
liquors.  I  look  upon  the  liquor  trade  as  grossly  immoral, 
causing  more  evil  than  anything  else  in  the  country,  and  I 
think  the  Federal  Government  ought  not  to  derive  a  revenue 
from  the  retail  of  intoxicating  drinks.  I  think  if  this  section 
remains  in  the  Bill  it  will  have  a  most  demoralizing  influence 
upon  the  country,  for  it  will  lift  into  a  kind  of  respectability 
the  retail  traffic  in  liquors.  The  man  who  has  paid  the  Fed- 
eral Government  $20.00  for  a  license  to  retail  ardent  spirits 


172    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

will  feel  that  he  is  acting  under  the  authority  of  the  Federal 
Government  and  that  any  regulations,  state  or  municipal, 
interfering  with  him  are  mere  temporary  and  local  arrange- 
ments, that  should  yield  to  the  authority  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment. Sir,  I  hope  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  is 
not  to  put  upon  the  statute  books  of  the  country  a  law  by 
which  the  tens  of  thousands  of  persons  in  the  country  who 
are  dealing  out  ardent  spirits  to  the  destruction  of  the  health 
and  life  of  hundreds  of  thousands  and  the  morals  of  the 
nation,  are  to  be  raised  to  a  respectable  position  by  paying 
the  Federal  Government  $20.00  for  a  license  to  do  this.  .  .  . 

"I  would  as  soon  have  this  Government  license  gambling 
houses,  or  houses  of  ill-fame;  and  it  would  be  just  as  credit- 
able to  this  Congress.  I  believe  that  such  a  provision  sanctions 
the  grossest  immorality;  that  it  will  have  a  most  deleterious 
effect  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  nation  and  the  morals  of 
the  nation.  For  the  sake  of  putting  a  few  thousand  dollars 
into  the  treasury,  we,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  are  to 
give  licenses  to  sell  rum. 

"The  Senator  from  Maine  (Mr.  Fessenden)  has  told  us 
several  times  since  this  Bill  was  before  the  Senate  that  our 
object  is  to  put  money  into  the  treasury.  I  do  not  agree  to 
the  declaration.  That  we  want  to  put  money  into  the  treasury 
is  true;  that  the  primary  object  of  this  Bill  is  to  put  money 
into  the  treasury  is  also  true;  but  there  is  something  over 
and  above  putting  money  into  the  treasury;  and  that  is  so  to 
arrange  this  mode  of  putting  money  into  the  treasury  that  it 
shall  not  interfere  with  the  business  interests  of  the  country, 
and,  above  all,  that  it  shall  not  tend  to  demoralize  this  people 
and  dishonor  this  nation.  Every  senator  knows  that  this 
nation  has  been,  and  is  being,  demoralized  by  the  rum  traffic. 
Every  man  knows  that  our  army  of  500,000  or  600,000  men 
in  the  field  has  been  greatly  demoralized  by  the  sale  and  use 
of  rum.  I  saw  a  letter  a  day  or  two  ago  from  one  of  the 
most  accomplished  officers  in  the  service  in  the  State  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  he  said  more  men  in  the  army  of  the  United  States 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  173 

were  slaughtered  by  whiskey  than  by  the  balls  of  the  enemy. 
Since  this  war  opened  we  have  lost  thousands  of  lives  by 
rum.  Sir,  with  this  nation  suffering  as  it  is  suffering  by 
the  sale  of  ardent  spirits,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
proposes  to  give  its  sanction  to  the  traffic.  I  would  as  soon 
give  my  sanction  to  the  traffic  of  the  slave  trade  as  I  would 
to  the  sale  of  liquors.  This  nation  comes  forward  and  pro- 
poses to  give  a  sort  of  sanction  to  the  liquor  traffic  by  taking 
$20.00  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  men  who  by  dealing  out 
poisons  to  the  people  have  wrung  them  from  suffering  wives 
and  children. 

"There  is  not  a  rum  seller,  or  a  friend  of  the  rum  seller, 
on  this  continent  that  will  not  welcome  this  tax.  It  will  be 
hailed  from  one  end  of  this  country  to  the  other  by  the  whole 
rum-selling  interest.  If  the  rum  sellers  of  the  country  had 
held  a  national  convention  they  would  have  asked  you  to  put 
precisely  such  a  thing  as  a  license  to  sell  liquors  into  your  Bill. 
Why,  Sir,  it  has  been  the  struggle  of  the  retailers  of  rum 
all  over  this  country  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  to  adopt  this 
license  system  and  to  get  licensed.  .  .  .  This  act  will  be 
a  source  of  gratification  in  every  rum  shop  and  low  doggery 
in  this  section." 

Mr.  Fessenden.  "To  pay  twenty  dollars?" 
Mr.  Wilson.  "Yes,  they  will  rejoice  to  pay  it.  Why? 
They  are  under  the  ban  of  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  nation 
today.  Now  you  come  forward  and  put  in  the  pocket  of  every 
liquor  seller  in  the  land  a  license,  give  him  a  charter  to  go 
forth  in  the  community  and  deal  out  his  liquors  under  the 
authority  and  sanction  of  the  United  States.  This  Govern- 
ment license  is  a  certificate  of  character.  The  liquor  dealer 
will  so  regard  it,  and  he  will  be  proud  to  shake  your  certificate 
in  the  face  of  an  outraged  moral  sentiment."10 

This  speech  by  Senator  Wilson  was  in  harmony  with  the 
views  of  President  Lincoln,  who,  however,  finally  yielded  to 
the  entreaties  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Hon.  Salmon 
10  Congressional  Globe,  pp.  2376-2377. 


174    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

P.  Chase,  and  signed  the  bill,  saying  as  he  did  so:  "I  would 
rather  lose  my  right  hand  than  to  sign  a  document  that  will 
tend  to  perpetuate  the  liquor  traffic,  and  as  soon  as  the 
exigencies  pass  away  I  will  turn  my  whole  attention  to  the 
repeal  of  that  document." 

I  was  active  in  public  life  when  that  internal  revenue 
measure  was  under  consideration  and  when  it  became  a  law, 
and  was  connected  with  the  government  at  Washington  dur- 
ing the  years  that  followed  and  I  knew  at  the  time,  as  did 
all  my  official  and  political  associates,  that  for  the  reasons 
here  stated  Mr.  Lincoln  objected  to  the  liquor  tax  provisions 
of  that  measure  and  signed  the  bill  upon  the  promise  that  at 
the  close  of  the  war  the  law  should  be  repealed.  His  attitude 
in  this  matter  was  a  subject  of  common  conversation  at  the 
time,  and  Major  Merwin,  who  in  such  matters  was  more 
closely  associated  with  President  Lincoln  than  was  any  other 
man  during  all  the  years  of  the  war,  stated  at  a  great  con- 
vention held  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  November  10-13,  1913,  that 
he  had  many  conversations  with  the  President  relative  to  this 
matter  and  that  Mr.  Lincoln  always  spoke  to  him  of  the 
liquor  tax  as  a  bond  to  fasten  the  liquor  traffic  upon  the  nation, 
and  avowed  his  purpose  to  secure  the  early  repeal  of  that 
feature  of  the  revenue  law. 

LINCOLN'S  LAST  UTTERANCES 

on  the  liquor  question  came  leaping  from  his  glad  heart 
on  the  day  of  his  assassination,  and  were  expressive  of 
exalted  purposes  and  confident  expectations.  On  the  after- 
noon of  that  day  Major  Merwin  was  a  dinner  guest  at  the 
White  House,  He  came  by  invitation  of  the  President  to 
receive  from  him  instructions  respecting  a  very  important 
mission  upon  which  he  was  that  night  to  proceed  to  New 
York  City.  After  he  had  received  his  orders,  and  as  he  was 
about  to  depart,  he  was  addressed  by  President  Lincoln,  who 
with  exuberance  of  spirits  said:  "Merwin,  we  have  cleaned 
up  with  the  help  of  the  people  a  colossal  job.  Slavery  is  abol- 


LINCOLN  AND  TEMPERANCE  175 

ished.  After  reconstruction  the  next  great  question  will  be 
the  overthrow  and  the  abolition  of  the  liquor  traffic  and  you 
know,  Merwin,  that  my  head  and  heart  and  hand  and  purse 
will  go  into  that  work.  In  1842 — less  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago — I  predicted,  under  the  influences  of  God's  Spirit, 
that  the  time  would  come  when  there  would  be  neither  a  slave 
nor  a  drunkard  in  the  land.  Thank  God,  I  have  lived  to  see 
one  of  those  prophecies  fulfilled.  I  hope  to  see  the  other 
realized." 

Major  Merwin  was  so  impressed  by  this  remarkable  state- 
ment that  he  said:  "Mr.  Lincoln,  shall  I  publish  this  from 
you?"  "Yes,"  was  his  prompt  and  emphatic  reply,  "publish 
it  as  wide  as  the  daylight  shines."  With  those  words  ringing 
in  his  ears  and  echoing  through  all  his  being,  "like  the  music 
of  the  spheres,"  Major  Merwin  started  on  his  important  mis- 
sion for  the  President,  and  the  next  morning,  upon  his  arrival 
at  New  York  City,  learned  that  the  voice  which  uttered  those 
words  was  forever  hushed  in  death. 

"Lincolnize  America"  was  the  inspiring  motto  of  a  great 
celebration  of  the  icoth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Abraham 
Lincoln.  In  the  direction  of  that  high  level  the  nation  is 
constantly  advancing,  and  its  exalted  summit  will  be  reached 
when  the  people  have  come  to  understand  and  realize,  as  Lin- 
coln did,  the  sacred  functions  of  civil  government  and  have 
driven  from  beneath  the  protection  of  law  the  destructive 
liquor  traffic  and  all  other  recognized  and  admitted  evils  as 
it  was  Lincoln's  declared  purpose  to  do. 

All  who  truly  revere  the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln  will 
aid  that  forward  movement  of  the  nation.  All  who  hinder 
or  oppose  it  will  by  so  doing  be  disloyal  to  his  memory  and 
to  the  high  ideals  for  which  he  lived  and  died. 


LINCOLN  AND  SLAVERY— OPPOSED  TO 
SLAVERY 

""VT  THEN  the  story  of  our  great  antislavery  conflict 
\\  shall  have  been  written,  it  will  make  one  of  the 
most  ideal  chapters  in  our  matchless  history." — 
Hon.  James  M.  Ashley. 

No  work  of  fiction  excels  in  thrilling  interest  the  history 
of  Abraham  Lincoln's  relation  to  slavery.  In  it  are  found 
such  contradictions  blending  into  perfect  harmony;  such  ad- 
vance achieved  by  stubborn  resistance  of  progressive  influ- 
ences; such  painful  reluctance  in  pursuing  the  pathway  lead- 
ing up  to  highest  service  with  honor  and  renown,  and  such 
hairbreadth  avoidance  of  disastrous  blunders,  as  equal  in  in- 
terest the  most  fascinating  dreams  of  the  imagination.  And 
no  portion  of  history  is  more  charming  or  more  instructive 
than  that  which  tells  of  the  events  in  which  Lincoln  was  the 
chief  and  unwilling  actor  in  accomplishing  the  salvation  of 
his  country  and  in  becoming  the  world's  most  distinguished 
and  beloved  champion  of  human  freedom. 

Seen  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  present  time,  those  events 
are  hard  to  understand.  Slavery  is  gone  and  cannot  now  be 
seen  as  it  appeared  at  that  time.  Conditions  in  all  that  region 
where  slavery  formerly  existed  have  become  so  changed  that 
it  is  impossible,  by  a  retrospective  view,  to  appreciate  the 
violence  of  the  struggle  by  which  it  was  destroyed.  All 
this,  however,  is  better  understood  and  realized  by  those  who 
were  active  participants  in  the  events  of  those  memorable 
years,  and  others  who  were  not  may  perhaps  be  able  to  imagi- 
nation to  stand  in  the  midst  of  the  earlier  scenes  of  that  period, 

176 


LINCOLN  AND  SLAVERY  177 

and  thereby  be  able  to  discern  something  of  the  significance 
of  the  events  connected  with  Lincoln's  relation  to  slavery  as 
they  then  appeared. 

THE  ESSENTIAL  CHARACTER  OF  SLAVERY 

which  must  be  considered  if  one  would  have  a  correct  under- 
standing of  Lincoln's  relation  to  that  institution  is  nowhere 
depicted  with  more  impressive  force  than  in  the  official  cor- 
respondence between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  in  the 
negotiations  for  the  transfer  to  the  United  States  by  Mexico 
of  Texas  and  other  Mexican  territory.  At  that  time,  as  at 
present,  Mexico  was  regarded  as  far  beneath  the  United 
States  in  point  of  civilization,  enlightenment  and  moral  stand- 
ing. And  yet,  when  at  the  close  of  the  war  with  Mexico, 
that  nation  was  forced  to  surrender  to  the  United  States  a 
large  portion  of  her  territory,  the  Mexican  commissioner  re- 
quested that  in  the  treaty  of  cession  there  be  a  section  pro- 
viding that  slavery  should  never  be  permitted  in  any  portion 
of  that  territory.  In  making  this  request  the  commissioner 
of  that  semi-civilized  nation  said:  "If  it  were  proposed  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States  to  part  with  a  portion  of 
their  territory  in  order  that  the  Inquisition  should  be  estab- 
lished there,  it  would  excite  no  stronger  feelings  of  abhor- 
rence than  those  awakened  in  Mexico  by  the  prospect  of  the 
introduction  of  human  slavery  in  any  territory  parted  with 
by  her."1 

By  no  great  statesman  or  orator,  or  by  any  brilliant  writer 
of  history  or  fiction,  has  the  heinous  character  of  slavery  been 
more  faithfully  portrayed  than  in  this  request  and  protest  from 
Mexico.  And  the  brand  of  barbarism  thus  stamped  upon 
slavery  was  in  accord  with  the  mature  judgment  of  all  en- 
lightened people  who  had  no  financial  or  other  interest  in  that 
institution.  Even  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Great 
Britain  in  the  Somerset  case  in  declaring  that  slavery  was 

1  Letter  of  Sept.  4th,  1847,  to  James  Buchanan,  Secretary  of  State, 
from  Mr.  Trist,  U.  S.  Minister  to  Mexico. 


178    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

so  inherently  evil  that  it  could  not  rightfully  receive  the  pro- 
tection of  civil  government,  coming  as  it  did  from  a  highly 
civilized  nation,  was  not  as  severe  a  characterization  of  slavery 
as  was  that  piteous  plea  of  semi-barbarous  Mexico  that  the 
territory  ceded  by  her  to  the  United  States  should  be  forever 
safeguarded  against  that  institution. 

But  at  the  time  this  plea  was  made  slavery,  although  thus 
branded  as  barbarous,  was  in  such  complete  control  of  the 
United  States,  and  ruled  with  such  rigor,  that  in  giving  to 
Secretary  Buchanan  the  foregoing  information,  U.  S.  Min- 
ister Trist  said  he  answered  the  Mexican  commissioner  as 
follows:  "The  bare  mention  of  such  a  treaty  is  impossible. 
No  American  President  would  dare  present  such  a  treaty  to 
the  Senate.  I  assured  him  that  if  it  were  in  their  power  to 
offer  me  the  whole  territory  described  in  our  project,  increased 
tenfold  in  value,  and  in  addition  covered  a  foot  thick  with 
pure  gold,  on  the  single  condition  that  slavery  should  be 
excluded  therefrom,  I  could  not  entertain  the  offer  for  a 
moment,  nor  even  think  of  communicating  it  to  Washington." 

To  the  present  generation  this  reads  like  extravagant 
fiction.  It  is  difficult  to  realize  that  there  ever  was  a  time 
when  the  United  States  clung  with  such  tenacity  as  is  shown 
by  this  correspondence  to  an  institution  so  objectionable  upon 
humanitarian  grounds  to  a  people  like  the  Mexicans  of  that 
period.  But  the  foregoing  quotations  from  official  records 
made  little  impression  upon  the  public  mind,  and  were  soon 
forgotten.  This  humiliating  record,  however,  must  be 
charged  to  the  degrading  influence  of  slavery  and  not  to  any 
natural  depravity  of  the  people  who  were  identified  with  that 
institution.  No  higher  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  were 
ever  possessed  by  any  people  than  those  which  by  an  honorable 
ancestry  were  transmitted  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  slave- 
holding  portions  of  the  United  States.  The  crossing  of  an- 
cestral lines,  the  merging  of  distinctive  and  divergent  charac- 
teristics, the  mingling  of  the  blood  of  patrician  and  puritan, 
the  cultivation  of  the  spirit  of  chivalry  and  the  development 


LINCOLN  AND  SLAVERY  179 

of  Christian  patriotism,  combined  to  produce  in  that  sunny 
Southland  a  people  naturally  high-minded  and  purposeful. 

But  the  head  that  rested  in  the  lap  of  the  Delilah  of  ease 
and  luxury  was  shorn  of  the  locks  of  its  strength,  and  slavery 
conspired  with  the  Philistines  of  avarice  and  pride  to  pluck 
out  the  eyes  of  this  Samson  of  the  new  world.  Blinded  to 
the  high  ideals  of  their  noble  forebears  those  chosen  custodians 
of  freedom  became  the  proponents  of  slavery,  and  the  hand 
that  should  have  wielded  the  sword  of  chivalry  in  defense 
of  the  weak,  wielded  the  lash  of  the  taskmaster  and  riveted 
more  tightly  upon  the  limbs  of  men  made  in  the  image  of 
God  the  galling  fetters  of  cruel  bondage.  The  wealth  that 
should  have  sent  the  gospel  to  the  heathen  was  expended  in 
equipping  vessels  to  plow  the  seas  to  capture  them  for  slaves. 
This  traffic  attained  such  proportions  "that  not  less  than  half 
a  million  slaves  were  imported  direct  from  Africa  and  sold 
in  this  country  after  the  slave  trade  had  been  declared  piracy 
by  law  and  by  treaty  with  all  civilized  nations."  And  to  such 
an  extent  did  the  virus  of  avarice  enter  into  cavalier  blood 
that  during  all  the  years  of  that  inhuman  piracy  "but  one 
slave  pirate  was  ever  convicted  and  hanged  in  the  United 
States."  The  record  runs  that  on  February  28th,  1862, 
nearly  one  year  after  Lincoln's  first  inauguration  as  President, 
Captain  Nathaniel  Gordon  was  executed  in  New  York  City, 
the  first  and  only  case  of  the  conviction  and  punishment  of 
one  engaged  in  the  African  slave  trade. 

In  November,  1853,  the  Southern  Standard  remarked: 
"We  can  not  only  preserve  domestic  servitude,  but  can  defy 
the  power  of  the  world.  With  firmness  and  judgment  we 
can  open  up  the  African  Slave  immigration  again,  and  people 
this  noble  region  of  the  tropics." 

In  1857,  only  three  years  before  Lincoln  was  elected  Pres- 
ident, DeBeau's  Southern  Review  stated  "that  forty  slavers 
were  annually  fitted  out  in  the  ports  of  New  York  and  the 
east,  and  that  the  traffic  yielded  their  owners  an  annual  net 
profit  of  seventeen  million  dollars."  This  statement  shows 


i8o   LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

at  once  the  motive  for  which  slavery  and  the  slave  trade  were 
clung  to  with  such  tenacity,  and  the  depth  of  infamy  to  which 
a  great  wrong  like  slavery  will  inevitably  sink  even  the  best 
people  if  they  become  identified  with  it. 

"The  New  York  Evening  Post  published  a  list  of  names 
of  85  vessels,  fitted  out  in  the  port  of  New  York  between 
the  first  of  February,  1859,  and  the  I5th  of  July,  1860,  for 
the  African  Slave  trade. 

"The  New  York  Leader,  at  that  time  a  Tammany  paper, 
asserted  'that  an  average  of  two  vessels  each  week  cleared  out 
of  our  harbor  bound  for  Africa  and  a  human  cargo.' 

"The  New  York  World  declared  that  'from  thirty  to  sixty 
thousand  slaves  a  year,  under  the  American  flag,  are  taken 
from  Africa,  by  vessels  from  the  single  port  of  New  York.' 

"A  yacht  called  the  Wanderer  ran  into  a  harbor  near 
Brunswick,  Georgia,  in  broad  daylight,  in  December,  1858, 
and  landed  a  human  cargo  of  some  three  hundred  or  more 
slaves  direct  from  Africa.  This  fact  was  duly  chronicled 
at  the  time  in  the  Southern  newspapers,  and  some  of  the  blacks 
were  dressed  up  in  flaming  toggery  and  driven  in  carriages 
through  the  public  streets,  as  a  menace  and  defiance  to  the 
National  Government."2 

Such  was  the  monster  which  confronted  Lincoln  at  every 
step,  and  crouched  for  deadly  combat  when  he  crossed  the 
threshold  of  the  White  House. 

According  to  his  unequivocal  declarations,  Mr.  Lincoln 
during  all  his  life  was 

STRONGLY  OPPOSED  TO  SLAVERY 

On  the  4th  of  April,  1864,  during  the  fourth  year  of  his 
Presidency  and  while  his  enemies  were  furiously  opposing  his 
renomination,  in  a  letter  to  A.  G.  Hodges  he  stated  that  he 
was  "naturally  antislavery,"  and  that  he  could  not  remember 

2  Address  of  Hon.  J.  M.  Ashley,  Toledo,  Ohio,  June  2nd,  1890,  pp. 
18-19. 


LINCOLN  AND  SLAVERY  181 

the  time  when  he  did  not  "think  and  feel"  that  slavery  was 
wrong.  These  statements  are  in  full  accord  with  the  record 
of  his  life.  By  no  word  nor  act  of  which  we  have  any 
knowledge  did  he  ever  contradict  or  to  any  degree  weaken 
the  meaning  or  force  of  those  very  strong  declarations  against 
slavery.  His  first  known  utterance  upon  the  subject  still 
quivers  like  forked  lightning  upon  the  horizon  of  that  day 
in  1831,  when  he  was  but  twenty-two  years  old,  and  stood 
transfixed  by  the  horrors  of  a  slave  auction  in  the  city  of 
New  Orleans. 

On  the  3rd  of  March,  1837,  when  Lincoln  was  twenty- 
eight  years  old  and  a  member  of  the  Illinois  Assembly,  he 
joined  with  Dan  Stone,  a  fellow  member,  in  a  protest  against 
some  pro-slavery  resolutions  which  had  recently  been  adopted 
by  that  body.  In  that  protest  it  is  declared  "that  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  is  founded  on  injustice  and  bad  policy."* 

In  the  opinion  of  W.  E.  Curtis,  as  stated  by  Nicolay  and 
Hay,  this  protest  was  "the  first  formal  declaration  against  the 
system  of  slavery  that  was  ever  made  in  any  legislative  body 
in  the  United  States,  at  least  west  of  the  Hudson  River."  * 

This  statement  by  Mr.  Curtis  is  important  in  that  it  shows 
Mr.  Lincoln  to  be  a  leader  rather  than  one  who  followed  in 
the  wake  of  others.  Slavery  was  not  at  that  time  an  issue 
before  the  people,  and  had  been  forced  upon  his  attention 
by  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  which  he  was  a  member 
in  its  denunciation  of  antislavery  organizations  and  teachings. 
His  sense  of  honor  required  him  to  express  his  convictions 
relative  to  the  subject  and,  notwithstanding  his  youth  and 
lack  of  experience,  he  did  so  by  the  unusual  method  of  a 
written  protest  entered  upon  the  journal  of  the  Assembly, 
and  thus  made  a  matter  of  public  record.  From  the  hour 
he  stood  before  the  auction  block  at  New  Orleans  until  he 
delivered  his  second  inaugural  address,  Mr.  Lincoln's  opinion 
of  the  character  of  slavery  underwent  no  essential  change. 

3  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  I.,  p.  51. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  53. 


182    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

There  were  many  changes  in  his  conviction  respecting  methods 
of  dealing  with  slavery,  but  there  was  no  retreat  from  the 
decision  that  slavery  was  wrong;  and  with  him  that  verdict 
could  never  be  reversed. 

Wesley's  characterization  of  slavery  as  "the  sum  of  all 
villainies"  was  the  keynote  of  the  antislavery  movement  until 
Lincoln,  in  his  letter  of  April  4th,  1864,  to  A.  G.  Hodges, 
said:  "If  slavery  is  not  wrong  nothing  is  wrong."  When 
that  famous  aphorism  rang  out  upon  the  air  the  thinking 
world  paused  and  seemed  to  look  up  in  expectation  of  behold- 
ing an  angelic  figure  sweeping  through  the  heavens  with  a 
flaming  sword  ready  to  execute  divine  judgments.  Instantly 
hosts  of  patriots  joined  in  the  new  inspiring  battle-cry  and 
shouted  Lincoln's  burning  words  beside  the  blazing  watch- 
fires  of  "a  hundred  circling  camps,"  and  throughout  all  the 
loyal  regions  of  the  nation.  By  the  anxious  members  of  the 
Union  Soldier's  family  at  their  evening  hour  of  prayer,  by  the 
ministers  of  God  in  the  sanctuary  of  worship,  in  political 
meetings  of  the  Union  party,  in  caucuses  and  conventions 
throughout  the  loyal  states;  in  lyceum  lectures  and  in  the 
debates  in  Congress,  those  words  of  Lincoln  were  repeated 
until  they  became  a  new  confession  of  religio-political  faith 
for  the  nation. 

My  participation  in  the  political  struggles  of  those  mo- 
mentous months  enabled  me  to  realize  something  of  the  tre- 
mendous potency  of  that  unequivocal  characterization  of  an 
institution  which  at  that  time  was  rilling  the  land  with  anguish 
and  woe.  At  close  range  I  saw  the  patriot's  eye  shine  with 
a  brighter  luster  as  he  read  or  listened  to  those  words.  I 
saw  the  marching  legions  close  their  ranks  because  of  the 
assurance  that  the  period  of  vacillation  and  uncertainty  was 
forever  passed  and  that  slavery  was  doomed  to  swift  and 
certain  destruction. 

I  heard  "The  Battle-cry  of  Freedom"  sung  with  increased 
fervor  after  that  declaration  of  Lincoln  was  published 
throughout  the  nation;  a  declaration  which  seemed  to  have 


LINCOLN  AND  SLAVERY  183 

been  written  by  a  celestial  messenger  in  letters  of  living  light 
upon  the  dark  clouds  that  hung  above  the  field  of  battle. 

Some  writers  who  were  not  in  touch  with  the  loyal  masses 
during  those  years,  as  it  was  my  great  privilege  constantly  to 
be,  have  failed  to  note  the  tremendous  influence  upon  the 
people  of  that  very  striking  statement  of  President  Lincoln 
respecting  the  character  of  slavery;  and  I  have  failed  to  find 
in  the  history  of  those  times  any  mention  of  the  prominence 
given  to  it  in  the  final  debates  in  Congress  upon  the  consti- 
tutional amendment  abolishing  slavery.  Those  debates  were 
of  greater  strength  and  spirit  than  were  the  discussions  of 
that  measure  in  the  senate  and  house  of  representatives  dur- 
ing the  preceding  session  of  Congress.  My  own  literary 
work  in  connection  with  those  final  debates  began  with  the 
critical  review  of  the  first  speech  upon  that  measure,  pre- 
vious to  its  delivery  in  the  House.  I  approached  that  work 
with  mind  alert  and  nerves  at  high  tension,  for  I  believed, 
as  did  the  distinguished  author  of  that  speech,  that  on  the 
final  vote  the  amendment  would  be  adopted.  As  I  sat  at  night 
alone  perusing  the  manuscript  my  blood  tingled  when  glanc- 
ing at  the  page  before  me  I  discovered  that  the  first  sentence 
was  President's  Lincoln's  characterization  of  slavery;  and  as 
I  proceeded  with  the  work  of  examination  I  discovered  that 
the  distinguishing  features  of  that  able  speech  were  cast  in 
the  mold  of  that  famous  saying.  On  the  6th  of  January, 
1865,  after  preliminary  motions  had  been  acted  upon, 
Speaker  Colfax  announced  that  the  question  before  the  house 
was  the  reconsideration  of  the  vote  at  the  previous  session 
on  the  constitutional  amendment,  and  that  the  gentleman  from 
Ohio  (Ashley)  had  the  floor.  The  solemn  silence  which  fell 
upon  the  audience  was  broken  by  the  sound  of  a  strong,  clear 
voice,  saying,  "Mr.  Speaker,  'If  slavery  is  not  wrong,  nothing 
is  wrong.'  Thus  simply  and  truthfully  hath  spoken  our 
worthy  Chief  Magistrate."  Instantly  the  mighty  struggle 
against  slavery  was  lifted  to  a  high  moral  plane  upon  which 
it  continued  to  the  end. 


184    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

In  the  Hodges  letter  Mr.  Lincoln  states  that  the  views 
of  slavery  which  he  expressed  in  that  famous  aphorism  were 
such  as  he  had  held  during  his  entire  life.  His  speeches  and 
letters  in  which  he  refers  to  that  subject  bear  witness  to  the 
correctness  of  that  statement.  At  the  time  of  the  birth  of 
the  republican  party  in  Illinois,  on  the  29th  of  May,  1856, 
in  the  first  state  convention  of  that  party,  Mr.  Lincoln  said: 
"The  battle  of  freedom  is  to  be  fought  out  on  principle. 
Slavery  is  a  violation  of  the  eternal  right.  We  have  tem- 
porized with  it  from  the  necessities  of  our  condition,  but 
as  sure  as  God  reigns  and  school  children  read,  that  black 
foul  lie  can  never  be  consecrated  into  God's  hallowed  truth. 
.  .  .  Can  we  as  Christian  men,  and  strong  and  free  our- 
selves, wield  the  sledge  or  hold  the  iron  which  is  to  manacle 
anew  an  already  oppressed  race?  'Woe  unto  them/  it  is 
written,  'that  decree  unrighteous  decrees  and  that  write  griev- 
ousness  which  they  have  prescribed.' 

"Those  who  deny  freedom  to  others  deserve  it  not  them- 
selves, and,  under  the  rule  of  a  just  God,  cannot  long  retain 
it."  6 

It  was  a  very  unusual  expression  of  his  dislike  for 
slavery,  coupled  with  his  unwillingness  to  interfere  with  it 
where  it  constitutionally  existed,  which  led  him  in  the  Bloom- 
ington  speech  to  say:  "Let  us  draw  a  cordon,  so  to  speak, 
around  the  slave  states  and  the  hateful  institution,  like  a  rep- 
tile poisoning  itself,  will  perish  by  its  own  infamy."  Federal 
Edition,  The  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  II.,  p.  273. 

Similar  in  character .  were  the  declarations  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
respecting  slavery  in  his  debates  with  Douglas  and  in  his 
speeches  and  letters  at  that  time.  With  characteristic  candor 
he  expressed  his  appreciation  of  the  difficulties  encountered 
by  our  fathers  in  dealing  with  slavery  and  his  sympathy  with 
the  people  who,  by  inheritance,  came  into  the  possession  of 
property  in  slaves,  but  for  slavery  itself  he  had  no  words  of 

5  Lincoln,  the  Citizen,  p.  327,  and  Federal  Edition,  Works  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  267-270. 


LINCOLN  AND  SLAVERY  185 

sympathy  or  palliation.  In  language  as  strong  as  he  could 
command,  upon  all  suitable  occasions,  he  declared  slavery 
to  be  morally  and  unquestionably  wrong. 

Equally  pronounced  and  unyielding  was  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the 
zeal  and  determination  with  which  to  the  very  limit  of  rightful 
conservatism 

HE  PROTECTED  SLAVERY 

It  was  sometimes  difficult  to  reconcile  his  well-known 
hostility  to  slavery  with  his  vigilance  in  shielding  that  insti- 
tution from  the  assaults  of  its  enemies.  But  with  his  intense 
abhorrence  of  slavery  there  was  the  most  profound  and  con- 
scientious reverence  for  civil  government  and  for  the  consti- 
tution and  laws  of  the  nation.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  tempera- 
mentally conservative  and  his  native  gifts  of  reverence  and 
religious  regard  for  obligation  were  by  his  attitudes  and 
activities  developed  into  great  strength  and  firmness.  On  the 
27th  of  January,  1837,  when  he  was  only  twenty-eight  years 
old,  in  a  lyceum  address  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  he  said: 

"Let  every  American,  every  lover  of  liberty,  every  well- 
wisher  to  his  posterity  swear  by  the  blood  of  the  Revolution 
never  to  violate  in  the  least  particular  the  laws  of  the  country, 
and  never  to  tolerate  their  violation  by  others.  As  the  patriots 
of  seventy-six  did  to  the  support  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, so  to  the  support  of  the  constitution  and  laws  let  every 
American  pledge  his  life,  his  property,  and  his  sacred  honor — 
let  every  man  remember  that  to  violate  the  law  is  to  trample  on 
the  blood  of  his  father,  and  to  tear  the  charter  of  his  own  and 
his  children's  liberty.  Let  reverence  for  the  laws  be  breathed 
by  every  American  mother  to  the  lisping  babe  that  prattles 
on  her  lap;  let  it  be  taught  in  schools,  in  seminaries,  and  in 
colleges ;  let  it  be  written  in  primers,  spelling-books,  and  in  al- 
manacs; let  it  be  preached  from  the  pulpit,  proclaimed  in 
legislative  halls,  and  enforced  in  courts  of  justice.  And,  'n 
short,  let  it  become  the  political  religion  of  the  nation;  and 


186    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

let  the  old  and  the  young,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  grave 
and  the  gay  of  all  sexes  and  tongues  and  colors  and  conditions, 
sacrifice  unceasingly  upon  its  altars."  6 

At  the  time  of  this  address  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  member  of 
the  Illinois  House  of  Representatives,  and  only  a  few  days 
later  he  caused  to  be  spread  upon  the  journal  of  that  body 
the  famous  Lincoln-Stone  Protest  already  referred  to,  in  which 
he  was  careful  to  unite  with  the  declaration  against  slavery 
the  statement  of  belief  that  Congress  had  under  the  consti- 
tution, "no  power  to  interfere  with  slavery  in  the  different 
states ;"  and  that  the  assertion  of  its  power  to  abolish  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia  was  connected  with  the  proviso 
that  only  "at  the  request  of  the  people  of  that  district"  should 
that  power  be  exercised.  Thus  very  early  in  his  public  career 
did  Mr.  Lincoln  show  evidence  of  that  temperamental  con- 
servatism which  was  so  marked  a  feature  of  him  during  his 
Presidency. 

During  the  period  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  retirement  from  public 
life,  from  1848  to  1854,  there  was  great  growth  of  antislavery 
sentiment  throughout  the  free  states,  and  when  the  repeal  of 
the  Missouri  Compromise  in  1854  brought  him  into  the  arena, 
hostility  to  slavery  was  at  a  white  heat  and  extreme  methods 
of  dealing  with  that  institution  were  being  widely  and  ably 
advocated.  But  Mr.  Lincoln  remained  unyielding  in  his  op- 
position to  any  and  all  interference  with  slavery  in  the  states 
where  it  existed  either  by  the  people  of  other  states  or  by  the 
general  government. 

This  is  very  remarkable  in  view  of  the  furious  battle  in 
which  he  was  at  that  time  engaged  to  prevent  the  extension 
of  slavery  in  territory  consecrated  forever  to  freedom  by  laws 
as  binding,  and  covenants  as  sacred  as  it  was  possible  for  man 
to  make.  By  a  wide  and  plentiful  distribution  of  literature 
and  by  stirring  appeals  from  the  platform  and  pulpit,  there 
had  been  kindled  fires  of  antagonism  to  slavery  which  sprang 
into  sweeping  flames  when  the  hand  of  violence  was  laid  upon 

6  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  42-3. 


LINCOLN  AND  SLAVERY  187 

the  Missouri  Compromise  and  Kansas  and  Nebraska  were  open 
to  the  entrance  of  slavery.  It  is  no  wonder  that  in  the  wild 
tumult  of  that  hour  some  of  the  champions  of  freedom  advo- 
cated a  resort  to  extreme  measures  of  resistance  and  retalia- 
tion, and  it  is  passing  strange  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  swayed 
in  the  slightest  degree  by  the  fierce  storms  of  excitement  and 
passion  that  swept  over  the  nation  and  arose  to  its  greatest 
violence  in  Illinois  and  other  states  adjacent  to  the  territory 
into  which  slavery  was  seeking  to  enter. 

With  seeming  reluctance,  yet  without  hesitation,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln turned  away  from  his  coveted  and  congenial  retirement 
and  joined  in  the  movement  against  the  extension  of  slavery. 
An  unwonted  luster  shone  in  his  eye  and  his  wonderful  voice 
took  on  new  qualities  of  strength  and  expression.  With  char- 
acteristic calmness  and  restraint  he  confronted  Douglas  at 
Chicago,  when  the  latter  returned  from  Washington,  and  a 
few  days  later,  on  the  i6th  of  October,  1854,  at  Peoria,  he 
delivered  a  speech  of  marvelous  power,  which  immediately 
placed  him  at  the  forefront  of  the  antislavery  movement  in 
Illinois  and  made  him  one  of  its  leaders  in  the  nation.  In 
that  Peoria  speech  Mr.  Lincoln  gave  the  most  graphic  and 
realistic  picture  anywhere  to  be  found  of  the  battles  against 
the  extension  of  slavery  during  the  early  autumn  months  of 
that  memorable  year.  In  reply  to  the  claims  of  Douglas  that 
there  was  not  perfect  agreement  among  the  forces  that  were 
opposing  him,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "He  (Douglas)  should  re- 
member that  he  took  us  by  surprise — astounded  us  by  this 
measure.  We  were  thunderstruck  and  stunned,  and  we  reeled 
and  fell  in  utter  confusion.  But  we  rose,  each  fighting,  grasping 
whatever  he  could  first  reach — a  scythe,  a  pitchfork,  a  chop- 
ping ax,  or  a  butcher's  cleaver.  We  struck  in  the  direction 
of  the  sound,  and  we  were  rapidly  closing  in  upon  him.  He 
must  not  think  to  divert  us  from  our  purpose  by  showing  us 
that  our  drill,  our  dress,  and  our  weapons  are  not  entirely 
perfect  and  uniform.  When  the  storm  shall  be  past  he  shall 


i88    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

find  us  still  Americans,  no  less  devoted  to  the  continued  union 
and  prosperity  of  the  country  than  heretofore."  7 

In  all  of  this  startling  description  of  those  early  battles 
is  seen  Mr.  Lincoln's  rare  fitness  for  leadership  in  a  great 
moral  and  civic  struggle.  Called  from  his  repose  as  by  a 
fire-bell  in  the  night,  and  rushing  into  the  fierce  conflict  he  did 
not,  for  a  moment,  lose  his  mental  poise  nor  turn  his  eyes 
from  the  pole  star  of  national  unity  and  constitutional  obli- 
gation. In  the  midst  of  the  wild  excitement  and  mingling 
with  the  conflicting  and  confusing  calls  to  action  which  rang 
out  upon  the  air,  his  familiar  voice  was  heard  saying:  "When 
they  remind  us  of  their  constitutional  rights,  I  acknowledge 
them — not  grudgingly,  but  fully  and  fairly;  and  I  would  give 
them  any  legislation  for  the  reclaiming  of  their  fugitives  which 
should  not  in  its  stringency  be  more  likely  to  carry  a  free 
man  into  slavery  than  our  ordinary  criminal  laws  are  to  hang 
an  innocent  one."  8 

At  another  point  in  that  Peoria  speech,  after  explaining 
the  arrangement  by  which  a  white  man  in  a  slave  state  had 
twice  as  much  influence  in  the  government  as  did  a  white  man 
in  a  free  state,  he  said:  "Now  all  this  is  manifestly  unfair; 
yet  I  do  not  mention  it  to  complain  of  it,  in  so  far  as  it  is 
already  settled.  It  is  in  the  Constitution,  and  I  do  not  for 
that  cause,  or  any  other  cause,  propose  to  destroy,  or  alter, 
or  disregard  the  Constitution.  I  stand  to  it,  fairly,  fully 
and  firmly."  9 

On  the  24th  of  August,  1855,  in  a  letter  to  his  close  friend, 
Joshua  F.  Speed,  whose  views  were  not  at  that  time  in  accord 
with  Mr.  Lincoln,  he  said:  "You  ought  rather  to  appreciate 
how  much  the  great  body  of  the  Northern  people  do  crucify 
their  feelings,  in  order  to  maintain  their  loyalty  to  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  Union."  10 

7  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  VoL  II.,  p.  260. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  207. 

9  Ibid.,  pp.  234-235. 
10  Ibid.,  p.  282. 


LINCOLN  AND  SLAVERY  189 

On  the  29th  of  May,  1856,  in  Bloomington,  Illinois,  at  the 
first  republican  state  convention,  Mr.  Lincoln  delivered  one 
of  the  ablest  and  most  immediately  effective  speeches  of  his 
life,  in  which,  after  denouncing  slavery  in  as  strong  terms  as 
he  ever  employed,  he  said:  "Let  us  revere  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  Let  us  continue  to  obey  the  Constitution  and 
laws.  Let  us  keep  step  with  the  music  of  the  Union.  In 
seeking  to  attain  these  results — so  indispensable  if  the  liberty 
which  is  our  pride  and  boast  shall  endure — we  will  be  loyal 
to  the  Constitution  and  to  the  'Flag  of  our  Union,'  no  matter 
what  our  grievance."  " 

In  1858,  in  his  debates  with  Douglas,  and  in  all  his  speeches 
during  that  campaign  for  the  senate,  Mr.  Lincoln  constantly 
maintained  the  attitude  of  loyalty  to  the  national  govern- 
ment and  obedience  to  its  Constitution  and  laws.  Again  and 
again,  and  in  a  great  variety  of  ways,  during  that  year,  as  at 
all  times,  he  declared  his  unyielding  opposition  to  all  inter- 
ference with  slavery  and  his  purpose  to  aid  in  safeguarding 
that  institution  in  the  states  where  it  then  existed.  He  did 
this  without  any  retraction  or  modification  of  his  repeated,  un- 
equivocal declarations  that  slavery  was  a  great  wrong  and 
should  be  abolished  or  prohibited  "wherever  our  votes  can 
rightfully  reach  it."  But  he  never  forgot  that  slavery  could 
not  be  rightfully  reached  in  states  where  it  existed,  by  any 
act  of  the  General  Government,  nor  by  the  people  in  other 
states,  and  he  kept  that  fact  before  the  people  quite  as  promi- 
nently as  he  did  his  conviction  that  slavery  was  wrong. 

On  February  27th,  1860,  in  his  Cooper  Institute  speech, 
after  proving  conclusively  that  "our  fathers  who  framed  the 
government"  understood  that  the  Constitution  conferred  upon 
Congress  full  authority  and  power  to  prevent  the  extension 
of  slavery  into  the  territories  of  the  United  States,  he  said: 
"As  those  fathers  marked  it,  so  let  it  again  be  marked,  as 
an  evil  not  to  be  extended  but  to  be  tolerated  and  protected 

11  Federal   Edition,   Works   of   Abraham   Lincoln,   Vol.   II.,   pp.   273, 
274,  275. 


190    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

only  because  and  so  far  as  its  actual  presence  among  us 
makes  that  toleration  a  necessity.  Let  all  the  guarantees 
those  fathers  gave  it  be  not  grudgingly  but  fully  and  fairly 
maintained.  .  .  .  Wrong  as  we  think  slavery  is  we  can 
yet  afford  to  let  it  alone  where  it  is,  because  that  much  is 
due  to  the  necessity  arising  from  its  actual  presence  in  the 
nation."  12 

On  the  6th  of  March,  1860,  eight  days  after  the  Cooper 
Institute  address  was  delivered,  in  a  speech  at  New  Haven, 
Connecticut,  he  said:  "The  other  policy  is  one  that  squares 
with  the  idea  that  slavery  is  wrong,  and  it  consists  in  doing 
everything  that  we  ought  to  do  if  it  is  wrong.  Now,  I  don't 
wish  to  be  misunderstood,  nor  to  leave  a  gap  down  to  be  mis- 
represented, even.  I  don't  mean  that  we  ought  to  attack  it 
where  it  exists.  To  me  it  seems  that  if  we  were  to  form  gov- 
ernment anew,  in  view  of  the  actual  presence  of  slavery,  we 
should  find  it  necessary  to  frame  just  such  a  government  as 
our  fathers  did;  giving  to  the  slaveholder  the  entire  control 
where  the  system  was  established,  while  we  possess  the  power 
to  restrain  it  from  going  outside  those  limits.  From  the 
necessities  of  the  case  we  should  be  compelled  to  form  just 
such  a  government  as  our  blessed  fathers  gave  us ;  and  surely 
if  they  have  so  made  it,  that  adds  another  reason  why  we 
should  let  slavery  alone  where  it  exists."  13 

Thus  Mr.  Lincoln  came  to  the  Presidential  office  fully  and 
unequivocally  committed  to  the  protection  of  slavery  as  re- 
quired by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  And  into 
that  great  office  with  all  its  authority  and  power  he  carried 
a  fixed  purpose  to  be  faithful  and  true  to  all  the  declarations 
he  had  made  respecting  the  constitutional  rights  of  slavery. 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1861,  in 

12  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  V.,  pp.  309-327. 
is  Ibid.,  p.  347- 


LINCOLN  AND  SLAVERY  191 

His  FIRST  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS, 

he  said:  "Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among  the  people  of 
the  Southern  States  that  by  the  accession  of  a  republican  ad- 
ministration their  property  and  their  peace  and  personal 
security  are  to  be  endangered.  There  has  never  been  any 
reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the  most 
ample  evidence  to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed  and 
been  open  to  their  inspection.  It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the 
published  speeches  of  him  who  now  addresses  you.  I  do 
but  quote  from  one  of  those  speeches  when  I  declare  that 
'I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with 
the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists.  I 
believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I  have  no  inclina- 
tion to  do  so/  Those  who  have  nominated  and  elected  me 
did  so  with  full  knowledge  that  I  had  made  this  and  many 
similar  declarations,  and  had  never  recanted  them.'  .  .  . 
I  now  reiterate  these  sentiments;  and,  in  doing  so,  I  only 
press  upon  the  public  attention  the  most  conclusive  evidence 
of  which  the  case  is  susceptible,  that  the  property,  peace  and 
security  of  no  section  are  to  be  in  any  wise  endangered  by 
the  now  incoming  administration.  .  .  . 

"I  take  the  official  oath  today  with  no  mental  reservations, 
and  with  no  purpose  to  construe  the  Constitution  or  laws  by 
any  hypercritical  rules.  .  .  . 

"In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow  countrymen,  and 
not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The  gov- 
ernment will  not  assail  you.  You  can  have  no  conflict  with- 
out being  yourselves  the  aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  regis- 
tered in  heaven  to  destroy  the  government,  while  I  shall  have 
the  most  solemn  one  to  'preserve,  protect  and  defend  it.'  "  14 

In  a  still  more  striking  and  impressive  manner  did  Mr. 

Lincoln  in  that  Inaugural  Address  state  his  conservative  views 

and  purposes  respecting  slavery  by  approving  of  the  following 

Constitutional  amendment :    "No  amendment  shall  be  made  to 

14  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VI.,  pp.  169-185. 


192    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  Constitution  which  will  authorize  or  give  to  Congress 
the  power  to  abolish  or  interfere  within  any  State  with  the 
domestic  institutions  thereof,  including  that  of  persons  held 
to  labor  or  service  by  the  laws  of  said  State."  15 

This  amendment  was  prepared  and  introduced  by  Hon. 
Thomas  Corwin  of  Ohio,  chairman  of  the  committee  of  thirty- 
three,  and  had  passed  both  houses  of  Congress  by  substantial 
majorities  and  was  signed  by  President  Buchanan.  Referring 
to  that  constitutional  amendment,  which  at  the  time  required 
only  the  approval  of  three-fourths  of  the  states  to  become  a 
part  of  the  national  Constitution,  Mr.  Lincoln  in  his  inaugural 
address  said:  "Holding  such  a  provision  to  now  be  amply 
Constitutional  law,  I  have  no  objection  to  its  being  made 
express  and  irrevocable." 

Had  that  amendment  become  a  part  of  the  national  Con- 
stitution it  would  have  made  it  forever  impossible  to  abolish 
slavery  by  peaceable  and  constitutional  methods.  Yet,  it  was 
approved  by  President  Lincoln  and  by  his  administration, 
through  Secretary  Seward  it  was  sent  out  to  the  several 
states  for  their  approval,  and  had  it  been  accepted  by  the 
South  it  would  undoubtedly  have  received  the  approval  of 
the  requisite  three-fourths  of  the  states  and  become  a  part 
of  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land.  From  that  dire  calamity 
the  nation  was  saved  by  the  mad  assault  upon  Fort  Sumter 
and  the  cruel  Civil  War. 

15  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  X.,  p.  90. 


VI 
EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED 

THE  civilized  world  has  come  to  recognize  Abraham 
Lincoln  as  the  divinely  chosen  agent  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  slavery.  This  he  accomplished  by  the  au- 
thority and  power  of  the  Presidential  office.  But  when  he 
assumed  the  duties  of  that  exalted  station  he  was  bound  by 
an  imperious  sense  of  duty  and  by  solemn  promises  not  to 
interfere  with  that  institution  in  the  states  where  it  then 
existed.  That  Mr.  Lincoln  intended  faithfully  and  fully  to 
keep  his  promises  respecting  slavery  is  beyond  question.  That 
he  hoped  to  save  the  nation  without  interfering  with  slavery 
is  also  certain.  That  he  earnestly  and  perseveringly  en- 
deavored to  accomplish  both  of  these  results  is  now  a  matter 
of  history.  In  so  doing  it  became  necessary  for  him  to  inter- 
pose his  great  authority  and  power  as  President  to  protect 
slavery  from  the  assaults  of  his  subordinates. 

For  a  time  this  did  not  become  necessary.  In  his  call 
for  a  special  session  of  Congress  to  meet  on  the  Fourth  of 
July,  1 86 1,  and  in  his  message  to  that  body,  he  made  no  ref- 
erence to  slavery  and  no  action  of  Congress  during  that  ses- 
sion was  at  variance  with  his  declared  purposes  respecting  that 
institution.  Both  branches  of  Congress  were  dominated  by 
a  spirit  of  exalted  patriotism,  all  the  acts  of  the  President 
in  the  emergency  brought  on  by  the  rebellion  were  approved 
and  made  legal,  and  even  in  excess  of  his  requests  provisions 
for  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  were  enthusiastically 
made.  As  the  location  and  movements  of  the  Union  army 
were  chiefly  in  the  states  were  slavery  existed,  it  was  impos- 
sible to  ignore  that  institution,  but  everything  proceeded  as 
fully  as  possible  in  harmony  with  the  President's  well-known 
policy.  This  continued  without  interruption  for  nearly  five 

193 


194    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

months,  when  on  the  3Oth  of  August,  1861,  General  John 
C.  Fremont,  in  command  of  the  department  of  Missouri, 
startled  the  nation,  and  attracted  the  attention  of  the  world 
by  issuing  a  proclamation  in  which  he  declared  martial  law 
and  emancipation  in  all  the  state  of  Missouri.  To  make  effect- 
ive this  proclamation,  General  Fremont  convened  a  military 
commission  to  hear  evidence  and  proceeded  to  issue  deeds  of 
manumission  to  persons  held  in  slavery  under  the  laws  of  the 
state.  This  proclamation  produced  a  profound  impression  in 
all  the  loyal  states. 

General  Fremont  was  held  in  very  high  esteem  by  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  republican  party  throughout  the  nation. 
His  early  achievements  in  exploring  a  route  for  a  transcon- 
tinental railroad  and  his  gallant  bearing  as  the  republican 
candidate  for  President  in  1856,  caused  him  to  be  greatly 
admired  by  those  who  were  proud  to  march  under  his  banner 
during  that  memorable  Presidential  campaign.  His  appoint- 
ment as  a  Major-General  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  and 
his  assignment  to  an  important  military  command  were  hailed 
with  a  delight  which  burst  into  a  flame  of  enthusiasm  when 
his  emancipation  proclamation  was  published.  But  his  action 
in  this  matter  met  the  prompt  and  emphatic  disapproval  of 
the  conservative  element  among  the  supporters  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  awakened  serious  apprehensions  respecting  its  influ- 
ence in  the  border  states  where  loyalty  to  the  Union  seemed 
to  depend  upon  the  National  Government  maintaining  its  atti- 
tude of  non-interference  with  slavery. 

Having  been  of  the  number  of  enthusiastic  young  repub- 
licans who  marched  in  the  Fremont  processions  in  1856,  and 
being  an  ardent  abolitionist  and  therefore  not  fully  satisfied 
with  President  Lincoln's  policy  respecting  slavery,  I  hailed  the 
Fremont  proclamation  with  delight  as  the  beginning  of  the 
end  of  slavery.  And  I  am  now  making  this  historical  record 
of  the  events  connected  with  that  proclamation  by  General 
Fremont  as  one  who  at  the  time  was  ardently  attached  to  him 
and  fully  in  sympathy  with  that  movement  against  slavery. 


EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED  195 

General  Fremont's  great  popularity  and  the  intensity  of  anti- 
slavery  sentiment  in  the  loyal  states  combined  to  make  it 
very  difficult  for  President  Lincoln  to  bring  the  General's 
action  in  this  matter  into  conformity  with  law  and  with  the 
policy  he  was  pursuing  toward  slavery  without  causing  serious 
division  among  Union  people.  Conditions  at  the  time  in  Gen- 
eral Fremont's  department  were  far  from  harmonious  and 
some  who  had  been  and  were  opposed  to  his  course  in  other 
matters  were  not  backward  in  claiming  that  the  proclamation 
was  intended  for  political  rather  than  military  results. 

The  controversy  in  General  Fremont's  department  became 
very  bitter  and,  although  at  first  local,  it  grew  to  national 
dimensions,  and  importance,  by  drawing  into  its  contentions 
several  prominent  and  distinguished  men,  including  the  Blairs, 
one  of  whom  was  a  member  of  President  Lincoln's  Cabinet. 
This  added  to  the  difficulties  and  dangers  encountered  by  the 
President  in  dealing  with  General  Fremont's  interference  with 
slavery.  But  never  did  he  seem  to  have  been  influenced  in 
the  least  by  the  danger  of  incurring  popular  displeasure  in 
disapproving  of  General  Fremont's  course,  which  he  promptly 
did  with  that  rare  wisdom  and  tact  that  always  characterized 
his  treatment  of  peculiarly  delicate  and  complicated  questions. 

On  the  2nd  of  September,  1862,  he  sent  to  General  Fre- 
mont by  special  messenger  a  carefully  written  letter,  fragrant 
with  the  spirit  of  considerate  kindness  and  gentle  firmness. 
Respecting  the  portion  of  the  proclamation  that  ordered  the 
shooting  of  disloyal  people  found  with  arms  in  their  hands, 
President  Lincoln  said:  "Should  you  shoot  a  man,  according 
to  the  proclamation,  the  Confederates  would  very  certainly 
shoot  our  best  men  in  their  hands  in  retaliation ;  and  so  man 
for  man  indefinitely.  It  is,  therefore,  my  order  that  you  allow 
no  man  to  be  shot  under  the  proclamation  without  first  having 
my  approbation  or  consent."1 

With  admirable  frankness  and  candor  Mr.  Lincoln  in  that 
letter  to  General  Fremont  expressed  his  conviction  that  the 
1  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  418. 


196    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

portion  of  the  proclamation  that  referred  "to  the  confiscation 
of  property  and  the  liberating  of  slaves"  would  alarm  Southern 
Union  men  and  turn  them  against  the  government.  This  he 
feared  would  ruin  the  prospect  of  holding  Kentucky  loyal 
to  the  Union.  "Allow  me,  therefore,"  he  added,  "to  ask  that 
you  will  as  of  your  own  motion,  modify  that  paragraph  so 
as  to  conform  to  the  first  and  fourth  sections  of  the  Act  of 
Congress  entitled  'An  Act  to  Confiscate  property  used  for 
insurrectory  purposes.' ' 

To  this  letter  of  wondrous  tact  and  kindliness  General 
Fremont,  on  the  8th  of  September,  1861,  replied  at  length 
affirming  his  conviction  that  his  proclamation  was  wise  and 
would  prove  effective  for  the  Union  cause,  and  asking  the 
President  to  assume  responsibility  for  its  modification  if  he 
still  thought  such  action  should  be  taken.  This  was  a  most 
remarkable  attitude  for  an  American  General  to  assume 
toward  the  President,  the  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Armies 
of  the  nation ;  but  Mr.  Lincoln  was  too  great  to  be  disturbed 
by  the  affair  and  "cheerfully,"  as  he  said,  ordered  the  proc- 
lamation to  be  modified  as  suggested  by  him. 

General  Fremont's  letter  of  September  8th  to  the  Presi- 
dent was  by  him  sent  to  Mr.  Lincoln  by  the  hand  of  his  wife, 
the  brilliant  daughter  of  the  great  Missouri  senator,  Thomas 
H.  Benton,  and  the  beloved  "Jessie  Benton  Fremont" — whose 
name  rang  out  upon  the  air  as  a  republican  battle-cry  during 
the  Presidential  campaign  of  1856,  and  was  afterwards  re- 
peated as  a  synonym  of  exalted  womanhood  and  courageous 
enterprise  and  adventure.  Intent  upon  her  mission  to  pre- 
vent the  modification  of  her  husband's  proclamation,  and  to 
strengthen  him  with  the  President  in  the  unfortunate  contro- 
versy with  his  subordinates,  she  reached  Washington  at  night 
and  sought  an  immediate  interview  with  the  latter,  calling  him 
from  his  bed  at  midnight  and  pressing  her  accusations  and 
demands  so  vigorously  that  in  his  account  of  the  affair  Mr. 
Lincoln  said:  "She  taxed  me  so  violently  with  many  things 
that  I  had  to  exercise  all  the  awkward  tact  that  I  have  to 


EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED  197 

avoid  quarreling  with  her.  .  .  .  She  more  than  once  inti- 
mated that  if  General  Fremont  should  decide  to  try  conclu- 
sions with  me  he  could  set  up  for  himself."2 

This  incident  illustrates  the  severity  of  the  storm  encoun- 
tered by  President  Lincoln  in  his  efforts  to  modify  General 
Fremont's  proclamation  and  to  arrest  proceedings  under  it  so 
as  to  prevent  the  harmful  results  he  believed  it  would  cause. 
The  President's  apprehensions  and  his  course  in  this  matter 
are  fully  justified  by  conditions  as  we  know  them  to  have 
existed  at  that  time. 

The  war  had  then  been  in  progress  more  than  four  months 
and  states  permitting  slavery  had  joined  the  rebellion  one 
after  another  until  only  the  border  states  were  left  undecided 
as  to  whether  they  would  remain  in  the  Union  or  unite  with 
the  Confederacy.  President  Lincoln  was  watching  the  pro- 
ceedings with  painful  solicitude,  fully  convinced  that  the  fate 
of  the  nation  depended  upon  the  decision  of  those  border 
states  and  that  the  decision  of  Kentucky  would  determine 
whether  the  other  border  states  would  decide  for  or  against 
the  Union.  He  was  very  careful  not  to  declare  his  convic- 
tions respecting  these  matters.  He  remained  outwardly  opti- 
mistic and  studiously  refrained  from  disclosing  the  appalling 
perils  of  the  nation.  But  while  thus  concealing  his  appre- 
hensions he  was  constant  and  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  win 
the  loyalty  of  the  border  states.  He  endured  severe  criticism 
for  this  rather  than  incur  the  risk  of  injuring  the  Union  cause 
by  an  explanation  of  his  course,  even  although  it  might  be 
satisfactory  to  the  watchful  and  anxious  people.  But  the 
Fremont  affair  compelled  him  to  speak,  not  to  the  public 
but  to  a  close  personal  friend,  and  his  disclosures  to  that  friend 
leave  nothing  to  be  desired  either  in  the  course  he  pursued 
or  the  motives  by  which  he  was  influenced. 

The  intimate  friend  to  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  made  those  dis- 
closures was  United  States  Senator  O.  H.  Browning  of 
Illinois,  who,  on  the  I7th  of  September,  1861,  had  in  a  letter 

2  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  415. 


198    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

to  President  Lincoln  severely  criticised  his  disapproval  of 
General  Fremont's  proclamation.  On  the  22nd  of  September, 
!86i — just  one  year  previous  to  the  issuing  by  President  Lin- 
coln of  the  preliminary  Emancipation  Proclamation — Mr. 
Lincoln  replied  to  Senator  Browning's  criticisms  in  a  letter 
marked  "Private  and  Confidential,"  in  which  he  said:  "I  think 
to  lose  Kentucky  is  nearly  the  same  as  to  lose  the  whole 
game.  Kentucky  gone,  we  cannot  hold  Missouri,  nor,  as  I 
think,  Maryland.  These  all  against  us,  and  the  job  on  our 
hands  is  too  large  for  us.  We  would  as  well  consent  to  sepa- 
ration at  once,  including  the  surrender  of  this  capital."3 

To  read  this  disclosure  of  the  nation's  peril,  even  at  this 
distant  day,  is  like  witnessing  a  loved  one's  hairbreadth 
escape  from  seemingly  unavoidable  disaster.  We  are  filled 
with  dismay,  and  shrink  back  as  we  are  made  to  realize  how 
very  near  we  then  came  to  a  catastrophe  more  dreadful  than 
any  the  world  has  ever  known.  And  only  in  strict  confidence 
and  because  he  deemed  it  necessary  did  President  Lincoln 
make  known  to  his  trusted,  though  at  the  time  misguided 
friend,  the  perilous  conditions  through  which  the  nation  was 
then  passing.  This  letter  to  Senator  Browning  was  not  at 
the  time  made  public,  and  not  until  long  after  the  dangers 
it  revealed  had  passed  did  the  people  learn  that  at  that  hour 
the  nation's  fate  was  trembling  in  the  balance. 

Suddenly  the  storm  broke.  While  President  Lincoln  was 
exerting  every  influence  in  his  power  to  cause  the  Kentucky 
legislature,  then  in  session,  to  take  action  against  secession 
and  in  favor  of  the  Union,  and  when  the  nation's  fate  de- 
pended upon  the  Government  maintaining  its  attitude  of  non- 
interference with  slavery,  the  Fremont  proclamation  of 
emancipation  was  issued  and  made  public.  We  are  not  left 
in  uncertainty  as  to  the  influence  of  that  proclamation  in  the 
border  states,  for  President  Lincoln  in  his  letter  to  Senator 
Browning,  from  which  I  have  already  quoted,  in  referring  to 
this  matter,  pathetically  writes:  "The  Kentucky  legislature 
3  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  422. 


EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED  199 

would  not  budge  till  that  proclamation  was  modified;  and 
General  Anderson  telegraphed  me  that  on  the  news  of  Gen- 
eral Fremont  having  actually  issued  deeds  of  manumission, 
a  whole  company  of  our  volunteers  threw  down  their  arms  and 
disbanded.  I  was  so  assured  as  to  think  it  probable  that  the 
very  arms  we  had  furnished  Kentucky  would  be  turned  against 
us."4 

Before  President  Lincoln  knew  of  the  unfavorable  action 
of  the  Kentucky  legislature  in  his  private  letter  to  General 
Fremont,  already  quoted,  he  expressed  his  fears  that  the  proc- 
lamation would  be  harmful  to  the  Union  cause  among  "our 
Southern  Union  friends"  and  ruinous  to  the  Union  cause  in 
Kentucky. 

A  more  unfortunate  time  for  an  antislavery  movement 
could  not  possibly  have  been  chosen  than  that  selected  by 
General  Fremont  for  his  proclamation  of  state-wide  martial 
law  and  military  emancipation.  Conditions  in  the  border 
states  were  made  peculiarly  unfavorable  to  its  acceptance  be- 
cause of  the  tremendous  efforts  of  the  Confederate  leaders 
to  enlist  those  states  in  the  rebellion.  No  less  eager  was  Pres- 
ident Lincoln  to  hold  Kentucky  to  her  allegiance  to  the  Union 
than  was  Jefferson  Davis  to  win  that  state  to  the  Confederacy. 
There  were  certain  leading  men  in  Kentucky  who,  at  that  time, 
were  believed  to  be  able  to  control  the  action  of  the  state 
respecting  the  Rebellion.  One  man — a  journalist  of  excep- 
tional ability — was  believed  to  have  sufficient  influence  to 
swing  the  state  as  he  might  choose  to  the  support  of  the 
Federal  Government  or  to  the  Confederacy.  To  enlist  that 
great  journalist  on  the  side  of  the  rebellion  was  the  chief  aim 
and  effort  of  the  Confederate  leaders.  Fifty  thousand  dollars 
in  gold  was  the  sum  employed  to  carry  out  the  scheme.  Ac- 
cording to  autograph  letters  now  before  me,  some  written 
by  the  editor  in  question,  and  others  by  prominent  Confed- 
erates, that  sum  was  invested  to  purchase  the  influence  which 
it  was  believed  would  cause  Kentucky  to  renounce  her  alle- 

*Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  422. 


200    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

giance  to  the  Union  and  join  the  Confederacy.  The  arrange- 
ments to  accomplish  that  result  were  consummated  and  the 
time  fixed  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  agreement  when  coun- 
teracting influences  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  intervened  and 
the  whole  scheme  was  brought  to  a  disastrous  failure.  Ken- 
tucky declared  her  loyalty  to  the  Government  and  aided  very 
materially  in  the  war  for  the  Government's  preservation.  The 
correspondence  shows  that  the  fifty  thousand  dollar  purchase 
price,  although  paid  over,  was  not  receipted  for  nor  returned, 
and  the  goods  were  not  delivered.  Names  and  dates  for  all 
this  could  be  easily  given,  but  it  would  serve  no  good  purpose. 
What  I  have  here  stated  is  given  as  an  illustration  of  con- 
ditions as  they  existed  at  the  time  the  Fremont  proclamation 
was  issued.  These  incidents  also  aid  in  explaining  Lincoln's 
anxiety  and  care  not  to  offend  public  sentiment  in  Kentucky, 
if  it  could  possibly  be  avoided.  To  many  loyal  people  his 
seemingly  excessive  solicitude  to  secure  and  hold  the  favor 
of  that  state  was  a  mystery,  and  some  were  uncharitable 
enough  to  attribute  it  to  partiality  for  it  as  his  native  state. 
But  his  letter  to  Senator  Browning  and  the  incident  relating 
to  the  Kentucky  journalist  make  it  all  plain,  and  show  that 
in  President  Lincoln's  opinion,  and  in  fact,  the  Fremont 
proclamation  was  very  inopportune  as  well  as  premature.  This 
he  states  very  clearly  in  the  Hodges  letter  of  April  4th,  when 
he  says:  "When,  early  in  the  war,  General  Fremont  attempted 
military  emancipation,  I  forbade  it,  because  I  did  not  then 
think  it  an  indispensable  necessity."  Another  reason  for  Mr. 
Lincoln's  disapproval  of  the  Fremont  proclamation  was  his 
conviction  that  when  emancipation  became  a  necessity,  as  he 
thought  possibly  would  sometime  be  the  case,  it  should  be 
proclaimed  and  made  effective,  not  by  a  general  in  command 
of  a  department  with  his  small  area  of  territory  and  his  limited 
authority  and  power,  but  by  the  President  with  his  nation- 
wide jurisdiction  and  his  great  resources  for  making  it  uni- 
form and  successful.  This,  as  we  shall  soon  see,  was  promi- 
nent in  his  thought  at  a  later  period  and  probably  had  its 


EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED  201 

influence  in  causing  him  to  disapprove  of  the  Fremont  eman- 
cipation scheme. 

In  addition  to  these  considerations,  each  and  all  of  which 
had  influence  with  the  President,  the  Fremont  emancipation 
movement  was  in  itself  exceedingly  objectionable  to  President 
Lincoln.  He  was  careful  not  to  refer  to  this  in  his  official 
statements,  for  he  realized  that  public  sentiment  against 
slavery  was  so  strong  and  intense  that  a  declaration  by  him 
against  that  emancipation  movement  would  be  misunderstood 
and  would  result  in  harm  to  the  Union  cause. 

In  his  letters  to  General  Fremont  the  President  sets  forth 
no  reason  for  his  disapproval  of  the  General's  emancipation 
scheme  save  his  apprehension  that  it  would  have  a  harmful 
influence  with  the  Union  people  of  the  South.  This  was 
doubtless  due  to  the  restraints  of  official  courtesy  and  of 
diplomatic  considerations.  But  in  his  letter  to  Senator 
Browning  before  cited,  he  lays  aside  all  reserve  and  inveighs 
against  the  proclamation  with  intense  severity.  He  declares 
it  to  be  "purely  political  and  not  within  the  range  of  military 
law  or  necessity.  .  .  .  The  proclamation  in  the  point  in 
question  is  simply  dictatorship.  It  assumes  that  the  General 
may  do  anything  he  pleases — confiscate  the  lands  and  free  the 
slaves  of  loyal  people  as  well  as  of  disloyal  ones.  And  going 
the  whole  figure,  I  have  no  doubt  would  be  more  popular  with 
some  thoughtless  people  than  that  which  has  been  done !  But 
I  cannot  assume  this  reckless  position  nor  allow  others  to 
assume  it  on  my  responsibility." 

In  reply  to  the  Senator's  claim  that  it  was  the  only  means 
of  saving  the  government,  he  says:  "On  the  contrary,  it  is 
itself  the  surrender  of  the  government."5 

These  unusually  strong  declarations  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  ob- 
jections to  General  Fremont's  attempt  at  military  emancipa- 
tion reveal  the  nature  of  the  trials  through  which  he  was  then 
passing  and  the  extent  to  which  that  affair  added  to  their 
severity. 

5  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  IV.,  pp.  421-422. 


202    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

The  infelicities  connected  with  this  affair  did  not  cause 
the  President  to  take  any  action  unfavorable  to  General  Fre- 
mont, but  on  account  of  the  bitter  animosities  in  his  depart- 
ment growing  out  of  other  matters,  the  President,  after  re- 
peated efforts  to  avoid  so  doing,  relieved  him  of  his  command 
and  appointed  General  David  Hunter  as  his  successor.  In  the 
spirit  of  a  true  soldier,  General  Fremont  retired  from  his 
command  in  a  manner  calculated  to  be  helpful  to  his  successor. 
But  while  the  harmful  influences  of  his  untimely  emancipation 
proclamation  were  so  far  overcome  as  to  prevent  immediate 
serious  results,  the  hostilities  engendered  by  it,  like  avenging 
bloodhounds,  pursued  Mr.  Lincoln  during  all  the  remainder 
of  his  weary  days. 

In  his  plans  to  prosecute  the  war  and  save  the  nation, 
in  his  efforts  to  destroy  slavery  and  in  his  candidacy  for 
re-election  those  hostilities  were  ever  present  and  added  greatly 
to  his  difficulties  and  to  the  bitterness  of  the  cup  constantly 
pressed  to  his  lips. 

The  loyalty  of  the  border  states  having  been  won  by  a 
policy  of  non-interference  with  slavery,  it  was  found  necessary 
to  continue  that  policy  in  order  to  hold  their  allegiance  to 
the  Union.  This  it  became  very  difficult  to  do.  The  progress 
of  the  war  was  constantly  producing  changes  and  creating 
new  and  difficult  complications  respecting  slavery  and  the 
colored  people.  The  white  slave  masters  fled  from  the  ap- 
proach of  the  Union  army,  leaving  many  thousands  of  colored 
slaves  to  be  dealt  with  by  the  Government.  Those  slaves 
were  eager  to  aid  the  Union  cause  as  laborers  or  in  any  way 
by  which  they  could  be  helpful  to  the  Union  army  and  to  the 
Government.  Thousands  of  them  were  anxious  to-  enlist  as 
soldiers  and  fight  for  the  Union  even  against  their  former 
masters.  How  to  deal  with  these  loyal  people  was  a  problem 
of  constantly  increasing  magnitude  and  importance,  and  as  the 
war  continued  adherence  to  President  Lincoln's  purpose  not 
to  interfere  with  slavery  became  more  and  more  difficult  for 
all  who  were  connected  with  the  Government. 


EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED  203 

During  autumn  months  of  1861,  the  Government,  while 
not  embarrassed  by  any  attempts  at  military  emancipation, 
was  compelled  to  take  action  permitting  the  loyal  slaves  of 
disloyal  masters  to  aid  in  efforts  to  save  the  nation.  In  the 
regions  where  the  colored  people  were  the  most  numerous  and 
the  climate  was  the  most  inhospitable  to  the  Union  soldiers, 
the  demand  for  such  action  was  most  imperative.  As  time 
passed  the  Government  was  led  increasingly  to  utilize  the 
slaves  to  the  greatest  possible  extent  in  overcoming  the  re- 
bellion. The  first  very  important  movement  toward  that 
policy  was  when  arrangements  were  being  made  for  the  expe- 
ditions under  General  Sherman  into  South  Carolina,  where 
the  colored  population  was  in  preponderance.  On  the  I4th 
of  October,  1861,  in  his  instructions  to  General  Sherman,  the 
Secretary  of  War  said  among  other  things:  "You  will,  how- 
ever, in  general,  avail  yourself  of  the  services  of  any  persons, 
whether  fugitives  from  labor  or  not,  who  may  offer  them- 
selves to  the  national  Government.  You  may  employ  such 
persons  in  such  services  as  they  may  be  fitted  for,  either  as 
ordinary  employees,  or,  if  special  circumstances  seem  to  re- 
quire it,  in  any  other  capacity,  with  such  organization  in 
squads,  companies  or  otherwise,  as  you  may  deem  most  bene- 
ficial to  the  service.  This,  however,  not  to  mean  a  general 
arming  of  them  for  military  service."  This  last  sentence 
was  interlined  by  President  Lincoln  by  his  own  hand.  In 
the  phrase  "special  circumstances"  the  word  "special"  was  also 
added  by  the  President.  In  making  these  amendments  to  the 
instructions  sent  to  General  Sherman  by  the  Secretary  of 
War,  President  Lincoln  was  seeking  to  avoid  harmful  criti- 
cisms from  those  who  were  ever  ready  to  embarrass  the  Gov- 
ernment by  stirring  up  race  prejudice  and  by  opposing  all 
movements  against  slavery.  To  avoid  being  accused  of  the 
confiscation  of  the  property  of  loyal  people  the  order  read: 
"You  will  assure  all  loyal  masters  that  Congress  will  provide 
just  compensation  to  them  for  the  loss  of  the  services  of  the 
persons  so  employed."  And  as  an  encouragement  to  those 


204    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

who  should  thus  serve  the  Government  it  was  added:  "And 
you  will  assure  all  persons  held  to  involuntary  labor,  who 
may  be  thus  received  into  the  service  of  the  Government,  that 
they  will,  under  no  circumstances,  be  again  reduced  to  their 
former  condition,  unless  at  the  expiration  of  their  respective 
terms  of  service  they  freely  choose  to  return  to  the  service 
of  their  former  masters."6 

This  order  marks  the  beginning  of  the  enrollment  of 
former  slaves  in  the  service  of  the  Government,  which  was 
continued  in  force  until  there  were  enrolled  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  colored  soldiers  and  laborers  in  the  army.  At 
the  time  this  order  was  made  President  Lincoln  had  not 
reached  the  point  at  which  he  was  willing  to  approve  of  the 
general  enlistment  in  the  Union  army  of  former  colored 
slaves,  but  he  consented  to  this  order  because  of  the  peculiar 
conditions  in  the  section  which  the  expedition  under  General 
Sherman  was  expected  to  occupy.  The  purpose  to  safeguard 
slavery  against  improper  interference  by  the  general  Govern- 
ment which  caused  President  Lincoln  to  disapprove  of  General 
Fremont's  emancipation  movement  was  still  dominant  in  his 
mind  and  caused  him  to  exercise  constant  supervision  over  his 
subordinates  in  military  and  civil  services;  and  when  pre- 
paring to  submit  to  Congress  in  December,  1861,  his  annual 
message  and  the  reports  of  the  members  of  his  Cabinet,  he 
was  astonished  to  discover  that  the  annual  report  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  had  been  printed  in  pamphlet  form  without 
having  been  submitted  to  him,  and  had  been  sent  by  mail  to 
the  postmasters  of  the  principal  cities  to  be  held  by  them  in 
readiness  to  be  given  to  the  newspapers  as  soon  as  the  Presi- 
dent's message  was  read  in  the  two  houses  of  Congress. 

The  President's  surprise  at  this  unusual  and  irregular  pro- 
ceeding grew  into  displeasure  when  he  discovered  that  said 
report  contained  recommendations  for  the  general  enlistment 
in  the  Union  Army  of  colored  slaves,  and  their  employment  in 
military  activities.  This  was  so  widely  at  variance  with  the 

6  War  Records,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  176. 


EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED  205 

position  of  the  President  at  that  time  that  the  pamphlet  copies 
of  the  report  which  had  been  sent  out  were,  by  telegraph, 
immediately  ordered  to  be  returned  and  the  report  was  changed 
so  as  to  conform  with  the  views  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

This  affair  was  well  calculated  to  cause  a  serious  rupture 
in  the  President's  Cabinet ;  the  course  pursued  by  the  Secretary 
of  War  being  not  only  at  variance  with  the  rules  and  customs 
in  such  cases,  but  of  such  a  character  as  to  produce  the 
impression  that  it  was  an  effort  to  circumvent  the  President 
by  committing  his  administration  to  a  policy  of  which  he  was 
known  to  disapprove. 

It  was  claimed  at  the  time  that  the  report  was  printed 
without  the  President's  approval  because  of  the  apprehension 
that  he  would  not  approve  of  the  recommendation  respecting 
the  enlistment  of  colored  troops,  and  that  it  was  distributed  to 
the  newspapers  as  it  was  to  make  difficult  if  not  impossible  its 
recall..  The  high  standing  of  Secretary  Simon  Cameron, 
who  was  responsible  for  this  unusual  proceeding,  added  to 
the  embarrassment  of  President  Lincoln  and  to  the  difficulties 
encountered  by  him  in  his  efforts  so  to  adjust  matters  as  to 
avoid  serious  results.  General  Cameron  was  by  ten  years 
President  Lincoln's  senior.  He  had  been  twice  elected  to 
the  United  States  senate  from  Pennsylvania  and  had  for  eight 
years  served  in  that  body  with  marked  distinction.  In  the 
Chicago  convention  that  nominated  Mr.  Lincoln  he  was  a 
prominent  candidate  for  the  Presidency  and  was  the  unani- 
mous choice  of  the  Pennsylvania  delegation  for  that  office, 
and  when  the  opportune  time  arrived  he  approved  of  the  action 
by  which  his  support  in  that  convention  was  given  to  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  made  possible  his  nomination.  He  was  a  man 
of  very  superior  ability,  of  strong  personality,  with  a  large 
and  enthusiastic  following.  His  pronounced  antislavery  con- 
victions and  tendencies  caused  him  to  be  very  closely  allied 
with  Seward  and  Chase,  the  two  most  prominent  and  influ- 
ential members  of  the  Lincoln  Cabinet,  and  there  is  ample 
evidence  that  those  three  distinguished  Cabinet  ministers  were 


206    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

in  frequent  consultation  concerning  the  feature  of  General 
Cameron's  report  to  which  the  President  objected. 

The  situation  was  made  more  complicated  by  the  manifest 
reasonableness  of  the  position  assumed  by  General  Cameron 
and  the  preponderance  of  loyal  public  sentiment  in  approval 
of  his  recommendation.  Few  men  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  position 
and  with  his  limited  experience  in  public  life  could  have 
measured  up  to  the  requirements  of  that  hour.  But  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  more  than  equal  to  the  emergency.  He  remained 
calm  through  all  of  the  affair.  The  storm,  though  severe, 
did  not  disturb  the  deep  waters  of  his  nature  and  his  unyield- 
ing firmness  held  him  to  his  declared  purposes. 

My  personal  recollections  of  those  events  are  still  very 
vivid.  The  people  did  not  know  of  the  affair  until  the  dif- 
ficulties were  adjusted,  but  were  soon  given  the  full  text  of 
the  portion  of  General  Cameron's  reports  to  which  the  Presi- 
dent objected  as  well  as  the  portion  written  to  conform  to  the 
President's  wishes. 

This  incident  was  for  a  time  very  disturbing  in  official 
circles  at  Washington.  It  was  generally  supposed  that  it 
would  cause  the  dismissal  of  Cameron  from  the  Cabinet  and 
possibly  the  withdrawal  of  other  members  from  the  President's 
official  family.  It  is  quite  certain  that  General  Cameron 
expected  to  be  requested  by  the  President  to  resign  as  Secre- 
tary of  War.  But  Mr.  Lincoln  disappointed  all  expectations 
by  not  manifesting  the  least  resentment  of  the  indignity  nor 
any  displeasure  with  General  Cameron.  His  official  relations 
with  him  were  not  in  the  least  affected,  and  after  a  few  weeks, 
when  General  Cameron  had  expressed  a  preference  for  a  posi- 
tion in  foreign  service,  he  was  appointed  and  confirmed  as 
minister  to  Russia,  and  Edwin  M.  Stanton  was  chosen  to  suc- 
ceed him  as  Secretary  of  War.  General  Cameron  continued 
as  one  of  President  Lincoln's  most  devoted  and  faithful 
friends  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  ardent  advocates 
of  his  re-election.  By  his  magnanimous  treatment  of  General 
Cameron  and  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Stanton  as  his  successor, 


EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED  207 

in  the  Cabinet,  President  Lincoln  converted  the  disintegrating 
influences  of  the  Cameron  affair  into  elements  of  strength, 
binding  the  members  of  his  administration  more  closely  to  each 
other  and  to  himself. 

The  first  regular  session  of  Congress  after  President  Lin- 
coln's inauguration  convened  on  the  2nd  of  December,  1861. 
Mr.  Lincoln's  nine  months  of  experience  as  President  had 
to  some  degree  modified  his  position  respecting  slavery,  but 
conscious  that  the  trend  of  events  was  in  the  direction  of  re- 
lentless warfare  against  that  institution  he  sounded  a  note  of 
warning  in  his  first  regular  message  by  saying:  "The  Union 
must  be  preserved  and  hence  all  indispensable  means  must 
be  employed.  We  should  not  be  in  haste  to  determine  that 
radical  and  extreme  measures  which  may  reach  the  loyal 
as  well  as  the  disloyal  are  indispensable."7 

In  each  of  the  two  sentences  here  quoted  the  word  "in- 
dispensable" is  used,  indicating  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  antici- 
pating the  coming  of  conditions  that  would  make  it  necessary 
to  destroy  slavery  in  order  to  save  the  nation.  But  he  could 
not  regard  himself  as  absolved  from  the  meaning  of  his  oath 
of  office  and  from  his  solemn  promises  not  to  interfere  with 
slavery  within  state  limits  until  he  became  fully  convinced  that 
by  no  other  method  could  the  nation  be  saved.  Hence,  the 
use  of  the  word  "indispensable"  in  his  first  regular  message 
to  Congress  and  in  other  papers  before  and  after  that  event. 
But  President  Lincoln's  conscientious  scruples  about  inter- 
fering with  slavery  were  not  shared  by  all  of  those  to  whom 
that  message  was  addressed.  That  Congress  was  made  up 
largely  of  men  fresh  from  the  people  and  the  loyal  masses 
were  becoming  restless  under  the  policy  of  safeguarding  and 
protecting  the  institution  which  was  seeking  to  destroy  the 
nation.  Hence,  no  counsel,  not  even  from  the  President, 
could  avail  to  arrest  the  movement  against  slavery.  That 
movement  was  rapidly  gaining  in  momentum,  and  the  results 
of  the  war,  whether  favorable  or  otherwise,  added  to  the  num- 
7  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VII.,  p.  52. 


208    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

her  and  strength  of  the  influences  that  were  combining  against 
the  institution  that  all  loyal  people  regarded  as  responsible 
for  the  war. 

President  Lincoln,  in  his  great  anxiety  to  hold  the  border 
states  in  loyalty  to  the  Union,  earnestly  advised  moderation 
in  all  measures  relating  to  slavery.  But  the  radical  element 
in  Congress  was  intent  on  advance  in  antislavery  legislation, 
and  before  the  close  of  that  first  regular  session  of  the  thirty- 
seventh  Congress,  five  important  measures  respecting  slavery 
were  enacted  and  were  given  the  President's  approval. 

The  first  and  most  important  of  those  enactments  was  the 
law  abolishing  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  The 
history  of  that  measure  cannot  be  correctly  written  without 
taking  account  of  facts  which  are  not  matters  of  public 
record,  such  as  the  action  of  committees,  conferences  with 
the  President  and  with  members  of  his  Cabinet,  and  the 
work  of  sub-committees. 

The  movement  enlisted  the  efforts  of  a  large  number  of 
the  most  prominent  members  of  both  branches  of  Congress, 
some  of  whom,  though  active  and  influential  in  securing  its 
enactment,  had  no  part  in  preparing  the  measure  which  became 
a  law.  Several  members  of  Congress  introduced  bills  upon 
that  subject  and  if  one  considers  the  published  official  records 
only  there  is  danger  of  failing  correctly  to  determine  the  origin 
of  the  bill  which  was  enacted.  The  complete  official  record 
of  the  proceedings  that  resulted  in  placing  that  important  law 
upon  the  nation's  statute  books  and  the  testimony  of  partici- 
pants in  those  proceedings  show  that  the  law  is  not  identical 
with  any  one  of  the  bills  introduced  by  individual  members, 
but  is  a  composite  made  up  of  portions  of  several  bills,  together 
with  amendments  made  by  committees  and  by  action  of 
Congress. 

The  bill  introduced  early  in  the  session  by  Hon.  James 
M.  Ashley  of  Ohio  consisted  of  only  one  sentence  of  twenty 
words,  and  provided  "that  slavery,  or  involuntary  servitude, 
shall  cease  in  the  District  of  Columbia  from  and  after  the 


EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED  209 

passage  of  this  act."  The  history  of  this  brief  bill  can  be 
fully  traced  through  all  the  proceedings  that  followed  to  the  en- 
actment of  the  law,  because  its  author  was  identified  with  those 
proceedings  more  fully  than  was  any  senator  or  other  mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Representatives.  That  bill  was  referred 
to  the  committee  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  of  which  its 
author,  General  Ashley,  was  a  member,  and  of  which  the  Hon. 
Roscoe  Conkling  was  chairman.  In  the  routine  of  business 
the  bill  when  read  to  the  committee  was  by  common  consent 
referred  to  General  Ashley,  who,  because  he  had  introduced 
the  measure  and  had  it  at  the  time  in  charge,  at  once  became 
the  target  for  many  indignities  from  pro-slavery  members  of 
the  committee  and  slave-owning  residents  of  the  District. 
Soon  after  the  bill  was  thus  referred  to  him  as  a  committee 
of  one,  General  Ashley  was  invited  by  Hon.  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to  a  conference,  during  which  the 
latter  asked  that  the  bill  be  amended  so  as  to  provide  for 
compensation  to  loyal  slave  owners  for  slaves  made  free  by 
its  enactment.  This  was  a  remarkable  suggestion,  coming  as 
it  did  from  a  man  who  at  that  time  and  during  the  remainder 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration  was  considered  the  leader  of 
the  extreme  antislavery  element  in  the  republican  party.  But 
Mr.  Chase  knew  that  the  President  was  contemplating  an  effort 
to  enlist  the  border  states  in  a  scheme  for  gradual  emancipa- 
tion with  compensation  by  the  Government  for  losses  thus 
sustained.  Therefore,  it  was  his  conviction  that  the  President 
would  object  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  unless  provision  was  made  for  compensation.  To 
this  General  Ashley  was  at  first  strongly  opposed,  but  after 
a  prolonged  interview  with  the  President,  he  came  to  look 
upon  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Chase  as  a  possible  means  of 
securing  for  the  bill  some  support  it  might  not  otherwise  have 
received.  At  President  Lincoln's  suggestion  General  Ashley 
decided  to  ask  the  Senate  Committee  for  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia to  assign  one  of  its  members  to  confer  with  him  and 
aid  in  the  preparation  of  a  bill  that  would  be  acceptable  to 


210    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  President.  Fortunately,  Senator  Lot  M.  Morrill  of 
Maine  was  appointed  as  General  Ashley's  associate  and  after 
repeated  and  prolonged  conferences  extending  over  a  period 
of  several  weeks,  those  two  gentlemen  came  to  agreement 
on  a  bill  which,  after  being  approved  by  President  Lincoln 
and  Mr.  Chase  and  by  the  committees  of  the  two  Houses  of 
Congress,  was,  on  the  I2th  day  of  March,  1862,  reported  to 
the  House  of  Representatives  by  General  Ashley  with  the 
recommendation  of  the  committee  that  it  be  passed.  Along 
with  a  like  recommendation  from  the  Senate  committee  for 
the  District  of  Columbia,  the  bill  was  reported  to  the  senate 
by  Senator  Morrill,  and  after  extended  discussion  and  amend- 
ment, on  the  3rd  of  April,  1862,  it  was  passed  by  a  vote 
of  twenty-nine  for  to  fourteen  against.  On  the  nth  of  April 
the  bill  as  amended  by  the  senate  passed  the  House  by  a  vote 
of  ninety-two  for  to  thirty-eight  against,  and  was  approved 
by  the  President  and  became  a  law  on  the  i6th  of  April,  1862. 
The  law  abolished  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and 
appropriated  one  million  dollars  to  compensate  loyal  slave 
owners  for  their  slaves  at  the  rate  of  three  hundred  dollars 
for  each  slave  made  free  by  that  law,  and  also  appropriated 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  expenses  of  voluntary  emi- 
gration to  Hayti  or  Liberia.  General  Ashley's  objection  to 
the  compensation  feature  of  this  bill,  already  mentioned,  was 
on  account  of  his  disapproval  of  such  a  recognition  by  the 
Government  of  the  slave  holder's  ownership  of  their  slaves, 
and  also  because  he  believed  that  three-fourths  of  those  who 
would  receive  compensation  were  secessionists  at  heart  and  in 
sympathy  with  the  Rebellion.  Many  other  radical  antislavery 
members  were  of  the  same  opinion,  but  all  submitted  to  that 
objectionable  feature  of  the  bill  because  of  their  ardent  desire 
to  banish  slavery  from  the  national  capital  and  from  the  Dis- 
trict in  which  it  was  located.  President  Lincoln,  however, 
was  in  favor  of  compensating  all  loyal  slave  owners  for  slaves 
made  free  by  action  of  the  Government  and  providing  for  the 
cost  of  voluntary  colonization,  and  he  was  delighted  to  have 


EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED  211 

both  of  these  features  included  in  the  law  making  the  District 
of  Columbia  free.  Of  the  other  four  antislavery  measures 
adopted  during  that  session  of  Congress  the  most  important 
was  the  law  prohibiting  slavery  from  the  territories  of  the 
United  States  and  from  all  territory  that  for  any  purpose  or 
at  any  time  might  be  acquired  by  the  nation.  The  enactment 
by  Congress  of  that  law  was  peculiarly  pleasing  to  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, as  it  was  in  the  line  of  the  teachings  to  which  he  has 
devoted  so  many  years.  The  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  re- 
publican party  was  that  "The  Constitution  confers  upon  Con- 
gress sovereign  power  over  the  territories  for  their  govern- 
ment," and  that  in  the  exercise  of  that  power  Congress  should 
prohibit  slavery  in  the  territories  of  the  United  States.  The 
great  speeches  which  made  Abraham  Lincoln  famous  and  won 
for 'him  the  Presidency  were  all  in  defense  of  that  doctrine, 
and  he  was  never  more  eloquent  and  forceful  than  when 
insisting  that  not  one  foot  of  free  soil  should  ever  be  con- 
taminated by  slavery.  And  when  it  became  his  privilege,  by 
his  signature,  to  make  valid  an  enactment  embodying  the 
teachings  of  all  his  life,  the  foundation  principle  of  his  party 
and  the  requirements  of  civic  righteousness,  he  had  reached 
a  height  of  personal  achievement  above  which  very  few  have 
ever  risen.  And  in  the  enactment  of  that  law  the  long,  hard 
struggle  against  oppression  found  a  rich  reward.  Since  the 
glad  day  in  which  that  law  became  effective  not  one  inch  of 
free  territory  in  all  of  our  national  domain  has  ever  felt  the 
tread  of  the  heel  of  tyranny. 

Quite  as  gratifying  to  all  loyal  people  as  the  law  granting 
freedom  to  the  slaves  of  the  disloyal  was  that  other  law 
providing  for  the  enlistment  of  colored  freedmen  as  soldiers 
in  the  Union  army.  No  one  act  of  the  Government,  save  the 
edict  of  the  Emancipation,  wrought  as  effectively  as  did  that 
law  in  the  final  overthrow  of  the  Rebellion.  The  measure  of 
Congress  which  afforded  the  human  heart  greatest  relief  and 
gratification  was  the  additional  article  of  war  prohibiting  the 
arrest  of  the  fugitive  slaves  by  any  officer  or  person  in  the 


212    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

military  or  naval  service.  Apart  from  slavery  itself  the  most 
objectionable  feature  of  the  reign  of  slavery  was  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law,  by  which  the  freedom-loving  people  of  the  free 
states  were  required  to  pursue,  capture  and  return  to  slavery 
fugitives  from  bondage  who  were  fleeing  to  a  land  of  liberty, 
and  that  article  of  war  marked  the  end  of  that  unspeakably 
offensive  Fugitive  Slave  Law. 

The°e  five  antislavery  laws  enacted  during  that  first  regular 
session  of  the  thirty-seventh  Congress,  together  with  the  Con- 
fiscation Law  passed  during  the  special  session,  marked  the 
great  advance  being  made  in  the  direction  of  the  extinction 
of  slavery.  During  the  time  these  measures  were  under  con- 
sideration in  Congress,  President  Lincoln  was  earnestly  en- 
gaged in  efforts  to  persuade  the  Border  States  to  adopt  a  sys- 
tem of  emancipation  with  compensation  by  the  Government 
for  their  slaves  thus  made  free.  His  pleadings  were  pathetic, 
but  were  all  unavailing.  His  efforts,  however,  were  helpful 
to  the  enactment  of  the  antislavery  laws  before  recited  and 
aided  in  creating  the  conditions  which  brought  forth  the 
great  edict  of  Emancipation.  The  trend  of  events  was  evi- 
dently in  the  direction  of  a  declaration  against  slavery,  but 
before  conditions,  in  President  Lincoln's  estimation,  seemed 
to  demand  such  action  he  was  unexpectedly  required  by  his 
convictions  of  duty  again  to  interpose  his  authority  and  over- 
rule a  movement  against  slavery  by  one  of  his  subordinates. 

On  the  gth  of  May,  1862,  General  David  Hunter,  in  com- 
mand of  the  department  of  the  South,  issued  an  order  of  mili- 
tary emancipation  which  on  the  iQth  of  May  President 
Lincoln  in  a  proclamation  declared  to  be  without  authority 
from  the  General  Government  and  therefore  void.  No  im- 
proper motives  could  by  any  one  be  ascribed  to  General 
Hunter  for  his  action  in  this  matter.  He  was  an  officer  of 
exceptional  ability  with  no  political  aspirations  or  tendencies, 
and  was  a  devoted  personal  and  political  friend  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln. His  department  included  the  states  of  South  Carolina, 
Georgia  and  Florida,  having  a  population  which  normally 


EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED  213 

consisted  of  from  three  to  five  slaves  to  one  white  person. 
The  whites  were  secessionists  and  had  all  fled  upon  the  ap- 
proach of  the  Union  army.  The  colored  people  were  all  loyal 
and  were  eager  to  aid  the  Government  as  laborers  or  as  sol- 
diers in  the  army,  for  which  they  were  at  the  time  organizing. 
The  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War  to  General  Sherman  here- 
inbefore mentioned  and  the  laws  enacted  by  Congress,  which 
was  then  in  session,  together  with  conditions  in  his  department, 
seemed  to  General  Hunter  to  justify  his  proclamation  of  free- 
dom for  the  slaves. 

But  the  issuing  of  that  proclamation  by  General  Hunter 
was  an  exercise  of  authority  that  President  Lincoln  regarded 
as  the  prerogative  of  the  Chief  Executive  only,  and  upon  that 
ground  the  proclamation  was  overruled.  Secretary  Chase  in 
a  letter  to  the  President  asked  him  to  permit  the  order  to  stand, 
but  Mr.  Lincoln  was  clear  in  his  conviction  that  he  could  not 
rightfully  do  so.  Therefore,  on  the  proclamation  he  wrote, 
as  he  also  stated  in  his  letter  to  Chase,  "No  commanding 
general  should  do  such  a  thing  upon  my  responsibility  without 
consulting  me."8 

In  his  proclamation  of  May  iQth,  1862,  annulling  the 
emancipation  portion  of  General  Hunter's  order,  President 
Lincoln  said:  "I  further  make  known  that,  whether  it  be 
competent  for  me,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and 
navy,  to  declare  the  slaves  of  any  State  or  States  free,  and 
whether,  at  any  time,  in  any  case,  it  shall  have  become  a 
necessity  indispensable  to  the  maintenance  of  the  Government 
to  exercise  such  supposed  power,  are  questions  which,  under 
my  responsibility,  I  reserve  to  myself,  and  which  I  cannot 
feel  justified  in  leaving  to  the  decision  of  commanders  in  the 
field.  These  are  totally  different  questions  from  those  of 
police  regulations  in  armies  and  camps."9 

By  comparing  these  quotations  from  the  President's  proc- 

8  Warden's  "Life  of  Salmon  P.  Chase,"  p.  434.     Complete  Works  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VII.,  p.  167. 

9  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VII.,  pp.  171-172. 


214    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

lamation  with  his  statements  nine  months  before  when  dis- 
approving of  General  Fremont's  emancipation  scheme,  we  dis- 
cover a  very  great  change  in  his  attitude  toward  slavery.  In 
this  proclamation  by  the  President  there  is  no  disapproval 
of  emancipation  nor  any  reference  to  its  possible  unfavorable 
influence  in  the  states  permitting  slavery.  The  only  objection 
to  General  Hunter's  order  which  is  here  stated  is  based  on  the 
General's  lack  of  authority  to  take  such  action  without  con- 
sulting the  President.  But  very  significant  is  the  intimation 
in  this  proclamation  of  the  possibility  of  a  future  emancipation 
policy  by  the  President  himself.  As  I  now  read  those  hints 
of  such  possible  action  by  the  President,  I  am  astonished  that 
they  were  not  understood  by  the  people  at  that  time.  We  had 
come  to  look  upon  Mr.  Lincoln  as  unyieldingly  opposed  to 
all  avoidable  interference  with  slavery  within  state  limits,  and 
we  were  not  looking  for  any  movement  by  him  against  that 
institution.  Therefore,  we  did  not  then  discover  that  in  over- 
ruling General  Hunter's  proclamation  because  it  was  issued 
without  due  authority,  the  President  encouraged  the  hope  that 
at  an  early  day  he  would  turn  the  batteries  of  the  Govern- 
ment upon  slavery.  It  was  doubtless  to  prepare  the  public 
mind  for  such  an  event  that  Mr.  Lincoln  in  this  proclamation 
stated  that  he  reserved  to  himself  the  exclusive  right  to  issue 
an  emancipation  proclamation,  to  decide  whether  such  action 
could  rightfully  be  taken  and  when  it  could  wisely  be  done. 
For  a  like  purpose,  President  Lincoln  in  his  annual  message 
in  December  stated  that  "all  indispensable  means  must  be  em- 
ployed" to  save  the  Union.  He  was  feeling  the  pressure  of 
the  antislavery  sentiment  of  the  loyal  people  and  was  edu- 
cating the  public  mind  to  regard  emancipation  as  indispen- 
sable to  the  preservation  of  the  nation.  As  President  Lin- 
coln saw  the  coming  of  emancipation  he  also  saw  the  utter 
financial  ruin  that  it  would  bring  upon  the  portions  of  the 
country  where  it  should  be  made  effective.  And  with  all  his 
heart  and  soul  he  desired  and  endeavored  to  rescue  those  sec- 
tions from  that  calamity  by  having  the  General  Government 


EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED  215 

compensate  slave  owners  for  their  financial  loss  through  eman- 
cipation. As  an  object  lesson  teaching  the  effectiveness  of 
such  a  plan  he  secured  compensation  in  connection  with  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  On  the  6th 
of  March,  1862,  while  that  District  bill  was  under  considera- 
tion in  Congress,  the  President  by  special  message  asked  for 
the  adoption  of  the  following  joint  resolution:  "Resolved, 
That  the  United  States  ought  to  co-operate  with  any  State 
which  may  adopt  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery,  giving  to 
such  State  pecuniary  aid,  to  be  used  by  such  State,  in  its 
discretion,  to  compensate  for  the  inconvenience,  public  and 
private,  produced  by  such  change  of  system."10 

This  resolution  was  quoted  by  President  Lincoln  in  his 
proclamation  overruling  General  Hunter's  emancipation  proc- 
lamation. So  dominant  in  his  soul  was  the  desire  by  compen- 
sation to  save  the  South  from  the  ruinous  results  of  the 
destruction  of  slavery  which  he  had  come  to  regard  as  inevit- 
able, that  he  turned  aside  from  the  main  purpose  of  his  proc- 
lamation to  advocate  his  favorite  proposition  of  "compensate 
abolishment"  of  that  institution.  Respecting  the  foregoing 
joint  resolution  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "The  resolution,  in  the 
language  above  quoted,  was  adopted  by  large  majorities  in 
both  branches  of  Congress,  and  now  stands  an  authentic, 
definite,  and  solemn  proposal  of  the  nation  to  the  states  and 
people  most  immediately  interested  in  the  subject  matter.  To 
the  people  of  those  states  I  now  earnestly  appeal.  I  do  not 
argue — I  beseech  you  to  make  arguments  for  yourselves. 
You  cannot,  if  you  would,  be  blind  to  the  signs  of  the  times. 
I  beg  of  you  a  calm  and  enlarged  consideration  of  them,  rang- 
ing, if  it  may  be,  far  above  personal  and  partisan  politics. 
This  proposal  makes  common  cause  for  a  common  object, 
casting  no  reproaches  upon  any.  It  acts  not  the  Pharisee. 
The  change  it  contemplates  would  come  gently  as  the  dews 
of  heaven,  not  rending  or  wrecking  anything.  Will  you  not 
embrace  it?  So  much  good  has  not  been  done,  by  one  effort, 
10  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VII.,  p.  172. 


216    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

in  all  past  time,  as  in  the  providence  of  God  it  is  now  your 
high  privilege  to  do.  May  the  vast  future  not  have  to  lament 
that  you  have  neglected  it."11 

Early  in  the  war  Mr.  Lincoln  in  a  private  conversation 
with  Robert  J.  Walker  and  James  R.  Gilmore  intimated  that 
he  was  considering  a  proposition  to  offer  financial  compensa- 
tion to  slave  states  that  would  co-operate  with  the  General 
Government  in  accomplishing  the  gradual  abolishment  of 
slavery.  He  then  expressed  the  conviction  that  the  North  and 
South  were  jointly  and  equally  responsible  for  the  existence 
of  slavery  in  the  nation,  and  that  any  financial  loss  from  its 
abolishment  should  be  borne  by  the  General  Government.  To 
this  conviction  he  steadfastly  adhered,  even  after  Congress 
had  submitted  to  the  states  the  Constitutional  Amendment 
abolishing  and  forever  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  nation;  but 
that  compensation  for  financial  loss  through  emancipation  was 
for  states  co-operating  with  the  Government  in  abolishing 
slavery,  and  in  conversation  with  Governor  Walker  he  said: 
"If  we  must  fight  out  this  war  to  a  victory  there  should  be  no 
compensation." 

And  when  dealing  with  the  Hunter  proclamation  Mr.  Lin- 
coln realized  that  slavery  was  doomed  and  that  only  by  the 
plan  suggested  in  his  gradual  emancipation  message  of 
March  6th  could  any  state  permitting  slavery  escape  from  dis- 
astrous financial  loss.  Hence,  his  impassioned  appeal  to  the 
slave  states  to  accept  the  compensated  abolishment  proposition 
which  he  quoted  in  the  proclamation  annulling  General  Hun- 
ter's order.  Hence,  also,  his  conference  on  the  I2th  of  July, 
1862,  with  members  of  Congress  from  the  Border  States 
and  his  strong  appeal  to  them  not  to  neglect  the  opportunity 
afforded  them  to  aid  in  the  early  termination  of  the  war  and 
to  save  their  states  from  the  disastrous  financial  loss  by  com- 
mending to  their  constituents  the  compensation  proposition  of 
the  General  Government. 

At  the  time  of  that  conference  with  the  representatives 

11  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VII.,  pp.  172-173. 


EMANCIPATION  CONSIDERED  217 

of  the  Border  States,  President  Lincoln  had  not  only  decided 
to  issue  an  Emancipation  Proclamation,  but  the  original  copy 
of  that  great  document  had  been  prepared  by  him  and  was 
probably  lying  in  his  private  drawer  within  his  reach  as  he 
was  reading  to  those  gentlemen  his  fervent  plea  for  their 
assistance  in  making  his  compensation  abolishment  plan  suc- 
cessful. 

This  fact  explains  the  peculiar  character  of  his  appeal  on 
the  1 2th  of  July  to  those  members  of  Congress  from  the 
Border  States.  His  marshaling  of  facts,  cogency  of  argu- 
ment, solemn  warnings  and  impassioned  appeal  resemble  the 
tearful  messages  of  Jeremiah,  when  in  prophetic  vision  he  saw 
the  calamities  into  which  his  people  were  stubbornly  advanc- 
ing. To  have  pointed  those  men  to  the  sword  of  judgment 
against  slavery  which  even  then  was  lifted  up  and  was  ready 
to  fall,  would  have  been  to  employ  a  threat  to  accomplish 
what  he  still  hoped  to  achieve  by  persuasion.  In  the  Hodges 
letter,  from  which  I  have  already  quoted,  referring  to  his 
efforts  with  the  Border  State  men,  President  Lincoln  said: 
"When  in  March  and  May  and  July,  1862,  I  made  earnest 
and  successive  appeals  to  the  Border  States  to  favor  compen- 
sated emancipation,  I  believed  the  indispensable  necessity  for 
military  emancipation  and  arming  the  blacks  would  come 
unless  averted  by  that  measure.  They  declined  the  proposition, 
and  I  was,  in  my  best  judgment,  driven  to  the  alternative  of 
either  surrendering  the  Union,  and  with  it  the  Constitution, 
or  of  laying  strong  hand  upon  the  colored  element."12 

On  the  7th  of  April,  1864,  three  days  after  the  Hodges 
letter  was  written,  in  a  conversation  with  Mr.  George  Thomp- 
son, Mr.  Lincoln,  referring  to  the  time  of  which  I  am  writing, 
said:  "The  moment  came  when  I  felt  that  slavery  must  die 
that  the  nation  might  live." 

That  interview  with  the  Border  State  men  on  the  I2th 
of  July,  1862,  was  the  last  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  efforts  to  avoid 
or  postpone  the  issuing  of  a  proclamation  of  freedom.  If 
12  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  67. 


218    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

those  gentlemen  upon  that  occasion  had  encouraged  the  Presi- 
dent to  hope  that  they  would  aid  in  making  his  compensation 
scheme  successful  it  is  quite  certain  that  he  would  have  with- 
held his  proclamation  until  they  could  have  done  so;  but  by 
declining  his  invitation  they  left  him  without  an  alternative, 
and  the  next  day  in  a  conversation  with  Seward  and  Welles 
he  declared  his  purpose  to  issue  an  Emancipation  Procla- 
mation. 


VII 
EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION 

THE  Emancipation  Proclamation  was  the  product  of  a 
severe  struggle  between  the  radical  and  conservative 
elements  of  the  nation.    That  struggle  continued  with 
constantly  increasing  vigor  during  the  first  year  and  a  half 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Presidency,  and  ceased  when  that  Proclama- 
tion was  issued  on  the  22nd  of  September,  1862.    After  that 
date  the  conservative  element  with  decreased  and  decreasing 
severity  opposed  the  Emancipation  policy  of  the  administra- 
tion, but  the  victory  of  the  radicals  was  practically  won  when 
the  preliminary  proclamation  was  issued. 

President  Lincoln  became  the  unwilling  captive  of  the 
radical  element,  and  with  very  great  and  painful  reluctance 
accomplished  by  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  what  he  dili- 
gently sought  to  avoid.  He  ardently  desired  the  abolishment 
of  slavery  by  state  action  and  not  by  edict  of  the  General 
Government.  After  the  preliminary  Proclamation  was  issued 
he  stated  to  Hon.  Edwin  Stanley,  Military  Governor  of  North 
Carolina,  "that  he  had  prayed  to  the  Almighty  to  save  him 
from  this  necessity,  adopting  the  very  language  of  our 
Saviour,  'If  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me,'  but  the 
prayer  had  not  been  answered."  * 

To  the  representatives  from  the  Border  States,  on  July 
1 2th,  1862,  the  President  said:  "I  am  pressed  with  a  difficulty 
not  yet  mentioned — one  which  threatens  division  among  those 
who,  united,  are  none  too  strong."  In  this  President  Lincoln 
referred  to  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation  which  had  been 
issued  by  General  Hunter,  and  said:  "In  repudiating  it,  I  gave 
dissatisfaction,  if  not  offense,  to  many  whose  support  the 
1  Thorndyke  Rice,  Reminiscences  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  533. 

219 


220    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

country  cannot  afford  to  lose.  And  this  is  not  the  end  of  it. 
The  pressure  in  this  direction  is  still  upon  me  and  is  increas- 
ing." 2 

The  next  day  after  that  conference,  in  his  conversation 
with  Secretaries  Seward  and  Welles,  according  to  the  testi- 
mony of  the  latter,  Mr.  Lincoln  declared  that  Emancipation 
"was  forced  upon  him  as  a  necessity,"  "was  thrust  at  him 
from  various  quarters,"  and  "had  been  driven  home  to  him 
by  the  conference  of  the  preceding  day." 

The  conference  to  which  President  Lincoln  here  refers 
was  the  one  with  the  Border  State  men,  and  it  was  their  re- 
jection of  his  proposition  for  compensated  emancipation  that 
had  "driven  home  to  him"  the  necessity  of  an  Emancipation 
Proclamation.  He  realized  that  a  crisis  had  been  reached  and 
that  what  he  designated  as  "Military  Emancipation"  had 
become  an  indispensable  necessity.  The  struggle  by  which 
that  decision  was  evolved  began  when  he  became  President. 
The  Fremont  Emancipation  movement  was  an  eruption  from 
the  volcano  of  antislavery  sentiment  among  the  loyal  masses 
and  the  contest  which  that  movement  precipitated  added  to 
the  influences  arrayed  in  hostility  to  slavery.  On  the  i5th 
of  November,  1861,  eight  months  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  inaugu- 
ration, Hon.  George  Bancroft  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Presi- 
dent in  which  he  said: 

"Your  administration  has  fallen  upon  times  which  will  be 
remembered  as  long  as  human  events  find  a  record.  I  sin- 
cerely wish  to  you  the  glory  of  perfect  success.  Civil  war  is 
the  instrument  of  Divine  Providence  to  root  out  social  slavery. 
Posterity  will  not  be  satisfied  with  the  result  unless  the  conse- 
quences of  the  war  shall  effect  an  increase  of  free  States. 
This  is  the  universal  expectation  and  hope  of  men  of  all 
parties." 

In  reply  to  Mr.  Bancroft's  letter  the  President  wrote: 
"The  main  thought  in  the  closing  paragraph  of  your  letter 
is  one  w^hich  does  not  escape  my  attention,  and  with  which  I 
2  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VII.,  pp.  272-273. 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  221 

must  deal  in  all  due  caution,  and  with  the  best  judgment  I 
can  bring  to  it."  3 

Mr.  Bancroft's  high  standing  in  public  esteem,  his  great 
wisdom  and  discretion  and  his  large  experience  in  public  life, 
gave  much  weight  to  his  declaration  respecting  slavery,  and 
Mr.  Lincoln's  reply  to  that  portion  of  his  letter  is  a  milestone 
marking  his  progress  toward  the  conclusion  announced  by  him 
eight  months  later  in  his  conversation  with  two  members  of 
his  Cabinet,  as  already  cited. 

During  the  months  immediately  preceding  Emancipation 
Mr.  Lincoln's  mail  was  loaded  with  letters  similar  to  the  one 
received  by  him  from  Mr.  Bancroft.  Many  conservative 
people  of  prominence  in  business  activities  and  professional 
pursuits  very  earnestly  counselled  the  President  as  did  Mr. 
Bancroft,  not  to  delay  but  to  hasten  the  execution  of  the  edict 
of  destiny  against  slavery.  People  distinguished  for  their 
moderation  and  for  their  affiliation  with  conservative  organi- 
zations and  movements  were  emphatic  in  their  declarations 
to  the  President,  by  letters  and  otherwise,  that  slavery  should 
not  be  permitted  to  survive  the  war  it  had  brought  upon  the 
nation.  Leading  democrats  like  Hon.  Robert  j.  Walker  of 
Mississippi  and  Gen.  Benjamin  F.  Butler  of  Massachusetts 
assured  the  President  of  their  conviction  that,  as  slavery  had 
drawn  the  sword  it  should  speedily  perish  by  the  sword. 
People  of  strong  antislavery  views  were  earnest  and  untiring 
in  their  demands  that  slavery  should  be  slain  that  it  might  not 
slay  the  nation.  All  these  insisted  that  as  slavery  was  the 
Rebellion's  main  pillar  of  strength  it  should  be  destroyed  as 
a  means  for  suppressing  the  Rebellion.  They  would  not  per- 
mit the  President  nor  the  loyal  people  to  forget,  that  shortly 
before  the  war  Representative  Ashmore  of  South  Carolina 
had  declared  in  Congress  that  "the  South  can  sustain  more 
men  in  the  field  than  the  North  can.  Here  four  millions  of 
slaves  alone  will  enable  her  to  support  an  army  of  half  a 
million." 

3  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VII.,  pp.  20-21. 


222    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Similar  declarations  were  made  by  other  prominent  South- 
ern men,  and  the  Southern  disloyal  press  teemed  with  edi- 
torials and  contributed  articles  calling  attention  to  the  great 
advantage  to  the  South  of  having  such  a  vast  force  of  toiling 
men  and  women  to  conduct  agricultural  and  other  activities 
of  the  South  while  the  white  men  were  at  the  front  fighting 
against  the  Union  armies. 

The  sentiments  of  the  loyal  people  who  remembered  these 
boasts  were  faithfully  represented  by  the  declaration  of  Gov- 
ernor Andrew  of  Massachusetts  to  the  President  in  May, 
1862,  when  he  said:  "The  people  of  Massachusetts  have  come 
to  feel  it  a  heavy  draft  on  their  patriotism  to  be  asked  to  fight 
Rebels  without  being  permitted  to  fire  on  their  magazines." 

In  a  like  vein,  but  with  greater  bitterness,  Horace  Greeley 
said:  "On  the  face  of  this  wide  earth,  Mr.  President,  there 
is  not  one  disinterested,  determined,  intelligent  champion  of 
the  Union  cause  who  does  not  feel  that  all  attempts  to  put 
down  the  Rebellion  and  at  the  same  time  uphold  its  inciting 
cause  are  preposterous  and  futile." 

While  declarations  favorable  to  emancipation  were  pouring 
in  upon  President  Lincoln  by  letters,  newspaper  articles  and 
interviewers,  church  gatherings  and  reform  associations  were 
passing  strong  antislavery  resolutions  and  sending  delegations 
to  the  White  House  to  declare  their  loyalty  to  the  Union  and 
to  plead  for  the  overthrow  of  slavery.  No  delegations  from 
church  bodies  or  from  organizations  engaged  in  reform  work 
during  those  months  of  agitation  and  strife  asked  that  slavery 
be  left  undisturbed,  but  all  espoused  the  cause  of  emancipation. 
Many  loyal  people,  however,  feared  that  any  interference 
with  slavery  by  the  General  Government  would  be  harmful 
to  the  Union  cause  and  all  who  were  pro-slavery  at  heart 
were  watchful  and  vigilant  in  "safeguarding  the  peculiar  in- 
stitution." On  the  1 3th  of  September,  1862,  in  addressing 
a  delegation  from  the  religious  bodies  of  Chicago,  President 
Lincoln  said:  "I  am  approached  with  the  most  opposite 
opinions  and  advice,  and  that  by  religious  men  who  are  equally 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  223 

certain  that  they  represent  the  divine  will.  .  .  .  The  subject 
is  difficult  and  good  men  do  not  agree.  .  .  .  You  know 
also  that  the  last  session  of  Congress  had  a  decided  majority 
of  antislavery  men,  yet  they  could  not  unite  upon  this  policy. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  religious  people."  4 

The  struggles  between  those  contending  forces  were  con- 
stant and  at  times  very  severe ;  but  as  resistlessly  as  the  coming 
of  the  day  the  antislavery  movement  advanced.  Mr.  Lincoln 
recognized  the  growth  of  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  eman- 
cipation and  realized  that  he  was  rapidly  approaching  the  time 
when  he  would  be  compelled  by  his  own  sense  of  duty  to 
proclaim  freedom  to  the  slaves.  A  few  days  before  the  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation  was  issued  in  an  interview  with  Rev. 
William  Henry  Channing  and  M.  D.  Conway  he  said:  "Per- 
haps we  may  be  better  able  to  do  something  in  that  direction 
after  awhile  than  we  are  now.  ...  I  think  the  country 
is  growing  in  this  direction  daily  and  I  am  not  without  hope 
that  something  of  the  desire  of  you  and  your  friends  may  be 
accomplished.  When  the  hour  comes  for  dealing  with  slavery 
I  trust  I  shall  be  willing  to  do  my  duty  though  it  costs  my 
life." 

While  the  growth  of  public  sentiment  against  slavery,  to 
which  in  the  foregoing  interview  President  Lincoln  referred, 
was  being  accomplished,  there  were  going  on  in  his  own  mind 
and  heart  some  very  remarkable  changes  of  conviction  and 
purpose.  In  his  letter  to  Senator  Browning,  at  the  time  of 
the  Fremont  Emancipation  movement,  already  cited,  Mr. 
Lincoln  said:  "Can  it  be  pretended  that  it  is  any  longer  the 
Government  of  the  United  States — any  government  of  con- 
stitution and  law — where  any  general  or  a  President  may 
make  permanent  rules  of  property  by  proclamation?  I  do 
not  say  Congress  might  not,  with  propriety,  pass  a  law  on 
the  point,  just  such  as  General  Fremont  proclaimed.  I  do 
not  say  I  might  not  as  I  may  have  Congress  vote  for  it. 
What  I  object  to  is  that  I,  as  President,  shall  expressly  or 
4  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  pp.- 28-29. 


224    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

impliedly,  seize  the  permanent  legislative  functions  of  the 
government."  8 

This  cannot  mean  less  than  a  declaration  that  he  did  not 
regard  himself  as  clothed  with  authority  to  issue  an  edict  of 
freedom  for  those  in  slavery  under  the  laws  of  a  state. 

Thirteen  months  later,  on  the  9th  of  May,  1862,  in  over- 
ruling General  Hunter's  emancipation  edict,  the  President 
intimated  that  he  might  reach  the  conclusion  that  he  had  the 
right  to  issue  such  a  proclamation  of  freedom. 

And  only  four  months  after  that  intimation  in  his  reply 
to  the  previously  mentioned  delegation  from  Chicago,  on  the 
1 3th  of  September,  1862,  he  stated  his  conviction  relative  to 
that  matter  in  the  following  unequivocal  declaration:  "I  raise 
no  objection  against  it  on  legal  or  constitutional  grounds, 
for  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  in  time 
of  war,  I  suppose  I  have  a  right  to  take  any  measures  which 
may  best  subdue  the  enemy."  e 

These  quotations  are  sufficient  to  show  the  changes  that 
were  taking  place  in  President  Lincoln's  mind,  but  they  do 
not  disclose  the  more  important  changes  that  were  taking 
place  in  his  intentions.  To  no  person,  not  even  to  his  closest 
and  most  intimate  friends,  did  he  during  those  eighteen 
months  give  a  hint  of  any  change  in  his  purposes  relative  to 
emancipation.  And  it  was  his  habit  when  conferring  with 
persons  upon  matters  of  importance  to  argue  against  a  deci- 
sion he  already  had  made  and  a  course  he  intended  to  pursue. 
He  did  this  not  only  to  conceal  his  intentions,  when  he  re- 
garded it  necessary  to  do  so,  but  also  and  chiefly  to  draw 
from  others  their  strongest  arguments  in  favor  of  the  purposes 
he  had  formed.  Hence,  it  is  matter  of  authentic  record  that 
the  strongest  arguments  against  emancipation  were  those 
made  by  the  President  after  the  Emancipation  Proclamation 
was  written  and  had  been  submitted  to  the  Cabinet  for  con- 
sideration. It  seemed  necessary  for  him  to  pursue  this  course 

5  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  422. 

6  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  pp.  31-32. 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  225 

with  individuals,  committees  and  delegations  which  were 
urging  him  to  adopt  and  pursue  an  antislavery  policy,  but  it 
caused  him  to  be  unfortunately  misunderstood  by  many  of 
his  true  friends  during  the  time  he  was  waiting  for  such  a 
policy  to  become  "an  indispensable  necessity."  And  it  also 
produced  the  bewildering  disagreement  found  in  published 
statements  of  the  order  of  events  connected  with  the  prepara-1 
tion  and  issuing  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation. 

In  "Six  Months  in  the  White  House,"  Mr.  F.  B.  Car- 
penter, the  artist  who  painted  the  historic  picture  of  Lincoln 
and  his  Cabinet,  publishes  his  recollections  of  President  Lin- 
coln's account  to  him  of  the  preparation  of  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  and  its  consideration  by  the  Cabinet.  That 
portion  of  Mr.  Carpenter's  book  has  been  reproduced  ver- 
batim by  many  authors  of  works  on  Lincoln,  and  has  been 
made  the  basis  by  other  authors  for  their  histories  of  those 
events.  But  Mr.  Carpenter's  errors  in  dates,  which  have 
thus  been  given  wide  publicity,  are  all  corrected  by  official 
records,  by  diaries  kept  by  Secretaries  Chase  and  Welles  of 
the  President's  Cabinet,  and  by  persons  closely  associated  with 
the  President.  By  careful  and  extended  examination  of  those 
public  and  personal  records  I  am  able  here  to  present  an 
absolutely  correct  history  of  that  proclamation  from  the  time 
it  was  first  written  by  Mr.  Lincoln  until  it  was  finally  pub- 
lished as  an  edict  of  the  Government. 

On  Wednesday,  July  Qth,  1862,  according  to  the  Presi- 
dent's own  statements,  while  on  the  steamer  returning  to 
Washington  from  his  inspection  of  the  army  under  General 
McClellan  at  Harrison's  Landing,  he  wrote  the  first  rough 
draft  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.7 

Thursday,  July  loth,  President  Lincoln  invited  his  pastor, 
Rev.  P.  D.  Gurley,  D.D.,  to  be  the  first  to  learn  of  his  decision 
to  issue  an  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  also  to  afford  him 
the  aid  of  his  ability  and  learning  in  the  preparation  of  that 
document.  After  this  conference  with  his  pastor,  the  rough 
7  Abraham  Lincoln  and  His  Presidency,  Vol.  II.,  p.  112. 


226    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

draft  was  carefully  rewritten  by  Mr.  Lincoln  and  included 
four  valuable  changes  suggested  by  Dr.  Gurley. 

Friday,  July  nth,  the  President  invited  Vice-President 
Hamlin  to  spend  a  night  with  him  at  the  Soldiers'  Home  for 
a  conference,  as  he  said,  "about  an  important  matter."  After 
dinner  the  President  said,  "Hamlin,  you  have  often  urged  me 
to  issue  an  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  as  I  have  decided 
to  do  so,  I  have  asked  you  to  be  the  first  one  to  see  the  docu- 
ment and  to  confer  with  me  about  it."  This  of  course  refers 
to  the  copy  of  the  proclamation  the  President  prepared  after 
his  consultation  with  Dr.  Gurley.  Mr.  Hamlin  heartily  ap- 
proved of  the  proposition  and  suggested  three  changes  in  the 
phraseology,  two  of  which  Mr.  Lincoln  accepted.  After  that 
evening,  as  far  as  known,  the  proclamation  was  not  again 
seen  save  by  the  President,  until  it  was  presented  to  the  Cabi- 
net for  their  consideration. 

Saturday,  July  I2th,  President  Lincoln  held  the  repeatedly 
mentioned  conference  with  the  Border  States  representatives. 
During  that  conference  he  made  no  reference  to  the  forth- 
coming announcement  of  emancipation,  but  very  strongly 
urged  the  approval  of  his  compensation  policy  in  view  of  the 
manifest  trend  of  affairs  in  regard  to  slavery. 

Sunday,  July  I3th,  while  on  the  way  to  attend  the  funeral 
of  Secretary  Stanton's  child,  President  Lincoln  informed  Sec- 
retaries Seward  and  Welles  that  he  intended  to  issue  an  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation.  Upon  no  previous  occasion  had  Mr. 
Lincoln  intimated  to  any  member  of  his  Cabinet  that  he  was 
contemplating  any  such  action.  Secretary  Welles,  in  his 
diary,  in  a  somewhat  extended  account  of  the  affair,  says: 
"It  was  a  new  departure  for  the  President,  for  until  this  time 
in  all  our  previous  interviews,  whenever  the  question  of  eman- 
cipation or  the  mitigation  of  slavery  had  been  in  any  way 
alluded  to  he  had  been  prompt  and  emphatic  in  denouncing 
any  interference  by  the  General  Government  with  the 
subject." ' 

8  Diary  of  Gideon  Welles,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  70-71- 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  227 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  greatly  depressed  while  making  this  dis- 
closure and  explaining  the  processes  by  which  he  had  reached 
the  conclusion  to  take  this  important  step.  He  had  come  in 
from  the  Soldiers'  Home  to  attend  the  funeral  and  had  invited 
the  two  secretaries  to  accompany  him.  His  long-time,  devoted 
friend,  Judge  Henry  C.  Whitney,  was  in  the  entrance-hall 
of  the  White  House  when  the  President  came  down  the  stairs 
to  take  the  carriage  standing  at  the  door.  Judge  Whitney 
states  that  Seward,  whom  he  could  see  sitting  in  the  carriage, 
"looked  at  peace  with  himself  and  all  mankind  .  .  .  and 
appeared  perfectly  easy  and  contented."  Of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
appearance  Judge  Whitney  says:  "Oh!  how  haggard  and  de- 
jected he  looked.  I  had  not  seen  him  for  nine  months  and 
the  change  was  frightful  to  behold.  .  .  .  Lincoln  spoke  to 
me  and  shook  hands  quite  mechanically — he  was  absent- 
minded,  he  did  not  know  me  at  all — he  was  oblivious  of  my 
presence  or  of  any  one's  presence.  ...  I  knew  from  the 
disaster  painted  on  Lincoln's  face  that  some  bad  news  was  in 
the  air."  9 

The  "bad  news"  that  chiselled  agitation  on  the  kindly  face 
of  Mr.  Lincoln  that  day  was  not  the  destructive  raids  General 
Morgan  was  then  making  in  Kentucky  and  adjoining  states. 
Disturbing  as  these  were,  something  far  worse  was  on  that 
1 3th  of  July  crushing  the  heart  of  the  great  and  good  Chief 
Magistrate.  On  the  preceding  day  he  had  failed  in  his  effort 
by  compensation  to  save  the  South  from  the  financial  ruin  of 
the  policy  he  had  decided  to  pursue  for  the  saving  of  the 
nation.  It  was  that  failure  and  its  far-reaching  consequences, 
as  foreseen  by  him,  that  shrouded  his  soul  in  gloom  on  that 
memorable  Sabbath  morning. 

President  Lincoln's  statement  to  Mr.  Hamlin  on  the  pre- 
ceding Friday  evening  and  his  statement  to  Seward  and 
Welles  on  that  Sunday  morning,  when  fully  understood,  are 
in  full  accord  with  his  statements  to  Mr.  Carpenter,  the  artist, 
that  the  proclamation  was  prepared  without  consultation  with 
9  On  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln,  p.  566. 


228    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

any  member  of  his  Cabinet,  for  it  was  fully  prepared  before 
that  conference  with  Seward  and  Welles. 

July  1 4th  President  Lincoln  sent  to  Congress  a  message 
asking  for  the  enactment  of  a  law  providing  for  financial 
compensation  to  states  that  would  adopt  gradual  emancipation. 

July  22nd  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  was  for  the 
first  time  presented  to  the  Cabinet.  All  the  members  of  that 
body  were  present,  and  after  extended  discussion,  President 
Lincoln,  upon  the  suggestion  of  Secretary  Seward,  withdrew 
the  document  to  be  again  presented  when  conditions  in  the 
field  were  more  favorable  to  the  Union  cause.  During  the 
weeks  that  followed  the  proposition  was  held  in  absolute  con- 
fidence by  every  member  of  the  Cabinet.  It  was  the  year 
for  the  election  of  members  of  Congress,  and  political  cam- 
paigns were  being  prosecuted  during  those  weeks  with  very 
great  vigor.  I  was  every  day,  at  that  time,  engaged  in  po- 
litical work  and  was  closely  associated  with  leaders  of  the 
Union  party,  and  not  one  of  my  associates  or  acquaintances 
had  the  slightest  intimation  that  the  President  had  any  thought 
of  issuing  an  Emancipation  Proclamation.  Important  as  was 
the  measure  and  widespread  and  deep  as  was  public  interest 
in  the  subject,  there  was  no  "leak"  from  any  member  of  the 
President's  official  family,  nor  from  any  one  who  had  been 
consulted  relative  to  the  matter. 

It  is  interesting  to  think  of  that  proclamation  being  held 
by  President  Lincoln  during  those  weeks  of  battles  at  the 
front  and  struggles  in  the  political  arena,  in  constant  readiness 
to  be  thrown  with  resistless  force  at  the  most  vulnerable  point 
of  the  Rebellion  when  the  favorable  moment  should  arrive. 
In  his  history  of  those  weeks  in  July  and  August,  given 
Mr.  Carpenter,  the  artist,  President  Lincoln  says:  "I  put 
the  draft  of  the  Proclamation  aside,  as  you  do  your  sketch  for 
a  picture,  waiting  for  a  victory.  From  time  to  time  I  added 
or  changed  a  line,  touching  it  up  here  and  there,  anxiously 
awaiting  the  progress  of  events." 

The  proclamation  that  had  been  considered  by  the  Cabinet 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  229 

that  day  in  July  was  not  all  laid  aside  as  this  statement  by 
Mr.  Lincoln  seems  to  indicate.  The  first  portion  of  that 
document  related  to  a  confiscation  act  which  had  been  passed 
by  Congress  a  few  days  before,  and  three  days  later  (on 
July  25th)  it  was  issued  as  a  separate  proclamation  by  the 
President.  The  second  portion  of  the  paper  considered  that 
day  by  the  Cabinet  was  a  declaration  by  the  President  of  his 
purpose  to  ask  Congress  to  enact  a  law  providing  for  com- 
pensation to  states  abolishing  slavery,  and  the  third  and  last 
portion  was  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation.  That  proc- 
lamation with  the  preceding  section  in  relation  to  the  Presi- 
dent's purpose  was  laid  aside  and  amended  from  time  to  time 
as  stated  by  President  Lincoln  to  Mr.  Carpenter. 

It  was  at  this  meeting  of  the  Cabinet  that  Secretary  Seward 
suggested  an  amendment  that  would  pledge  the  United  States 
to  maintain  the  freedom  of  those  who  should  be  emancipated 
by  the  proclamation. 

Wednesday,  September  I7th,  the  battle  of  Antietam  was 
fought,  and  not  until  Saturday,  September  2Oth,  was  it 
known  with  certainty  that  the  result  was  favorable  to  the 
Union  cause.  When  that  information  reached  the  President 
at  the  Soldiers'  Home,  he  immediately  proceeded  to  the  final 
revision  of  the  preliminary  proclamation. 

Monday,  September  22nd,  1862,  President  Lincoln  came 
in  from  the  Soldiers'  Home  to  the  White  House,  called  a 
meeting  of  the  Cabinet,  and  for  the  second  time  presented 
to  them  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  It  was  at  this  meet- 
ing that  he  also  told  the  members  of  his  Cabinet  that  he  had 
"made  a  solemn  vow  before  God"  which  he  intended  now  to 
keep  "by  the  declaration  of  freedom  to  the  slaves";  that  he 
did  not  wish  their  advice  about  the  main  matter,  for  he  knew 
their  views,  as  they  had  freely  and  fully  expressed  them  when 
the  subject  was  before  them  in  July;  that  he  had  decided  to 
issue  the  proclamation  and  would  be  glad  to  consider  any 
suggestions  they  might  wish  to  make  respecting  forms  of 
expression  or  minor  matters  connected  with  the  document. 


230    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

The  proclamation  read  by  Mr.  Lincoln  at  this  meeting  of 
his  Cabinet  was  quite  unlike  the  paper  he  submitted  to  them, 
and  after  consideration  laid  aside  two  months  before.  It 
had  been  enlarged  and  strengthened  and  made  much  more 
expressive  of  its  high  purpose,  and  it  contained  the  two  words 
suggested  by  Seward  at  the  July  meeting.  Other  amend- 
ments failed  to  receive  the  President's  approval  and  the  his- 
torical proclamation,  after  being  signed  and  given  the  Gov- 
ernment's official  seal,  was  published  on  Tuesday  morning, 
September  23rd,  1862. 

The  foregoing  record  shows  that  from  July  22nd  to  Sep- 
tember 22nd — exactly  two  months — the  preliminary  Emanci- 
pation Proclamation  was  under  consideration  by  the  President 
and  his  Cabinet,  with  no  other  persons  save  the  Vice-President 
and  the  President's  pastor  having  any  knowledge  of  the  pur- 
pose to  issue  such  a  document.  This  fact  gives  peculiar  in- 
terest to  the  events  that  transpired  during  those  two  months. 
Twenty-eight  days  after  that  proclamation  was  first  submitted 
to  the  Cabinet,  and  by  their  advice  temporarily  laid  aside,  and 
while  the  President  was  waiting  and  praying  for  a  victory 
that  would  enable  him  to  issue  it  under  auspicious  conditions, 
Horace  Greeley,  in  the  Tribune  of  August  iQth,  published 
an  editorial  entitled,  "The  Prayer  of  Twenty  Million,"  in 
which,  with  harsh  and  heartless  severity,  he  denounced  the 
President  for  not  pursuing  a  more  vigorous  policy  against 
slavery.  That  editorial  expressed  the  feelings  of  the  radical 
antislavery  people,  who  were  eager  for  just  such  an  edict  as 
was  the  proclamation  the  President  had  prepared  and  was 
anxiously  waiting  to  announce.  The  harmful  influence  of  that 
Greeley  editorial  was  speedily  arrested  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  reply 
which,  though  it  made  no  disclosures  of  the  emancipation 
policy  soon  to  be  adopted,  effectively  silenced  the  great  editor 
and  quieted  the  unrest  of  the  reasonable  people  throughout 
the  nation.  There  is  ample  reason  for  the  belief  that  when 
Mr.  Lincoln  prepared  that  reply  to  Greeley  he  was  confidently 
expecting  an  early  victory  of  the  Union  Army  under  General 


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EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  231 

Pope,  which  he  intended  to  follow  with  the  proclamation  of 
freedom  for  the  slaves.  That  expectation  seems  to  appear  in 
his  reply  and  serves  to  place  that  production  among  the  mas- 
terpieces of  epistolary  literature.  Instead  of  the  victory 
which  the  President  expected  there  came  the  second  Bull  Run 
disaster,  which  postponed  the  issuing  of  the  proclamation  to  a 
later  date. 

Less  ominous  than  was  the  Greeley  editorial,  but  more 
dramatic,  was  the  visit  of  the  delegation  from  Chicago  and 
their  interview  with  the  President  on  the  I3th  of  September. 
Representing  a  large  convention  of  evangelical  churches  which 
had  been  held  in  Chicago,  that  delegation  of  very  able  and 
learned  men  visited  Washington  to  remonstrate  with  the  Pres- 
ident against  his  seeming  purpose  to  protect  and  preserve 
slavery.  The  memorial  they  presented  was  claimed  by  them 
to  be  a  revelation  of  the  Divine  Will  respecting  the  duty  of 
Government  concerning  slavery,  and  in  language  quite  as 
strong  as  proper  courtesy  would  permit,  it  demanded  that 
the  President  issue  an  edict  of  freedom  for  the  slaves.  And 
while  that  impatient  demand  was  being  patiently  listened  to 
by  the  overburdened  President,  there  lay  only  a  few  feet  from 
the  speakers,  in  the  desk  by  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  then 
standing,  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  which  fifty- four 
days  before  he  had  submitted  to  his  Cabinet  and  was  at  that 
moment  holding  in  readiness  to  be  issued  as  soon  as  there 
should  be  a  victory  in  the  field  that  would  contribute  to  its 
good  influence  with  the  loyal  people  and  in  all  the  world. 

In  his  reply  to  that  delegation  the  President  could  not 
disclose  conditions  as  they  then  existed  with  reference  to  his 
intended  Emancipation  policy.  But  with  the  skill  of  a  master 
of  men  and  measures  he  replied  to  his  distinguished  and  patri- 
otic visitors  in  a  manner  that  left  them  all  in  uncertainty  as 
to  his  intentions  beyond  the  assurance  which  he  gave  that  he 
would  be  obedient  to  Divine  Will  as  that  will  was  made  known 
to  him. 

The  majesty  and  might  of  silence  were  shown  by  Presi- 


232    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

dent  Lincoln's  diplomatic  concealment  of  his  purposes  respect- 
ing slavery  from  that  delegation  and  from  the  watchful  and 
anxious  public.  By  the  course  he  then  pursued  he  held  the 
people  in  loyalty  to  the  nation  and  to  its  Government,  and 
at  the  same  time  prepared  the  way  for  the  wild  joy  that 
greeted  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  when  it  was  issued 
only  ten  days  later. 

Less  ominous  than  was  the  Greeley  episode,  less  dramatic 
than  was  the  interview  with  the  Chicago  delegation,  but  far 
more  pathetic  than  either  of  those  events,  was  the  action  of 
the  Massachusetts  state  convention  only  a  few  days  before 
the  proclamation  was  issued  emphatically  demanding  such  an 
edict  of  the  Government  and  steadily  refraining  from  endors- 
ing the  administration  of  the  President,  who  stood  as  it  were 
with  the  proclamation  in  his  hand  anxiously  waiting  for  favor- 
able conditions  to  announce  it  to  the  world.  Oh!  those  two 
tragic  months  from  July  22nd  to  September  22nd,  1862.  How 
vividly  their  startling  events  reappear  before  my  mind  as  I 
write  these  personal  reminiscences!  As  already  stated,  we 
were  in  all  the  loyal  states  in  the  midst  of  campaigns  for  the 
election  of  members  of  the  lower  branch  of  Congress  when 
that  Emancipation  Proclamation  was  issued  by  the  President 
and  published  in  the  newspapers  of  the  world.  To  the  North 
it  was  a  blessed  sunrise,  the  dawning  of  a  new  day.  To  the 
South  it  was  a  sunset  ending  in  a  dark  night  of  faded  hopes. 
It  stimulated  the  enthusiasm  of  the  antislavery  element  and 
aroused  antagonism  in  the  people  of  pro-slavery  sentiments 
and  tendencies.  It  divided  the  loyal  forces  and  kindled  to 
greater  activity  the  forces  of  partisan  agitation  and  strife. 
When  it  was  under  consideration  in  the  Cabinet,  Postmaster 
General  Blair  expressed  his  apprehension  that  it  would  be 
used  against  the  administration  at  the  coming  election.  To 
this  the  President — a  wiser  and  more  skillful  politician  than 
was  any  of  his  Cabinet — promptly  replied:  "They  will  use 
their  cudgel  on  us  any  way  and  it  will  do  us  more  harm 
not  to  issue  the  proclamation  than  to  issue  it." 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  233 

The  claim  that  the  war  was  conducted  to  destroy  slavery 
rather  than  to  save  the  nation  was  given  increased  force  by 
the  proclamation,  but  this  was  more  than  offset  by  the  immense 
increase  of  enthusiasm  of  the  antislavery  people  which  it 
produced.  That  enthusiasm  was  shared  by  prominent  and 
distinguished  people  as  well  as  by  the  loyal  masses,  and  added 
largely  to  the  interest  and  activity  of  the  Congressional  cam- 
paigns then  in  progress. 

One  strong  antislavery  member  of  Congress  of  my 
acquaintance,  as  he  was  driving  to  a  railroad  station  from  a 
country  appointment,  when  informed  that  the  proclamation 
had  been  issued,  sprang  from  the  carriage  in  which  he  was 
riding,  threw  his  shining  beaver  hat  high  into  the  air  and 
kicked  it  into  worthlessness  as  it  came  down,  while  he  shouted 
like  a  soldier  at  charge  of  bayonet.  He  was  a  candidate 
for  re-election  and  was  being  opposed  by  the  conservative 
element  of  the  Union  party  in  his  district,  who  claimed  that 
his  pronounced  hostility  to  slavery  was  objectionable  and 
embarrassing  to  the  President.  This  claim,  which  seemed 
likely  to  cause  his  defeat,  at  once  lost  its  force  and  it  seemed 
to  him  as  if  the  President  were  standing  close  beside  him  and 
silently  requesting  the  people  to  continue  him  in  Congress, 
which  they  gladly  did. 

In  some  districts,  however,  the  proclamation  seemed  to 
cause  the  defeat  of  the  administration  candidates ;  but  in  spite 
of  all  opposition  a.nd  occasional  reverses  it  marks  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  epoch  in  our  history  from  which  there  has  been 
no  turning  back. 

When  the  proclamation  was  published  the  Governors  of 
the  loyal  states  were  in  convention  at  Altoona,  Penn.,  and 
after  the  adjournment  of  that  gathering,  sixteen  of  their  num- 
ber, including  the  Governor  of  the  new  state  of  West  Vir- 
ginia, sent  the  President  a  written,  strong  endorsement  of 
his  Emancipation  Proclamation  and  policy,  and  on  the  I5th 
of  December  following,  the  National  House  of  Representa- 
tives by  a  vote  of  seventy-eight  to  fifty-one,  resolved: 


234    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

"That  the  proclamation  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  of  the  date  of  22nd  September,  1862,  is  warranted  by 
the  Constitution,  and  that  the  policy  of  emancipation,  as  in- 
dicated in  that  proclamation,  is  well  adapted  to  hasten  the 
restoration  of  peace,  was  well  chosen  as  a  war  measure,  and 
is  an  exercise  of  power  with  proper  regards  for  the  rights  of 
the  States  and  the  perpetuity  of  free  government."  10 

The  proclamation  of  which  I  have  here  been  writing  was 
not,  however,  the  document  that  gave  freedom  to  the  slaves. 
It  was  only  the  preliminary  proclamation  which  announced 
that  on  the  first  of  January  following  it  would  be  followed 
by  a  proclamation  of  freedom  if  those  who  were  in  rebellion 
did  not  within  one  hundred  days  return  to  their  allegiance  to 
the  Government.  That  preliminary  proclamation  did  not  ac- 
complish the  emancipation  of  one  slave,  but  it  announced  the 
coming  of  a  proclamation  that  would  emancipate  millions  of 
slaves,  and  it  was  the  beginning  of  the  emancipation  policy 
of  the  administration  from  which  there  was  never  the  least 
deviation  by  the  President  or  by  any  branch  or  department  of 
the  national  Government. 

Near  the  close  of  the  year  1862,  President  Lincoln  with 
very  great  care  prepared  his  final  Emancipation  Proclamation 
which  the  preliminary  proclamation  declared  would  be  issued 
on  the  ist  of  January,  1863,  if  the  Rebellion  was  still  in 
progress. 

Tuesday,  December  3Oth,  the  Cabinet  convened  to  consider 
the  final  proclamation  which  was  to  give  freedom  to  the  slaves. 
This  was  the  first  and  only  time  that  document  was  before 
the  Cabinet.  It  was  at  this  meeting  that  Secretary  Chase 
called  the  President's  attention  to  the  fitness  of  having  in 
such  an  important  document  a  suitable  recognition  of  the 
Deity.  This  incident  is  not  mentioned  in  either  the  Chase 
or  Welles  diaries,  and  statements  of  the  affair  in  books  and 
other  publications  either  make  no  mention  of  the  date  when 
that  suggestion  was  made  by  Mr.  Chase,  or  they  indicate  that 
10  Globe,  December  15,  1862,  p.  92. 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  235 

the  event  occurred  at  a  prior  meeting.  That,  however,  could 
not  have  been  the  case,  for  at  all  meetings  of  the  Cabinet 
to  consider  emancipation  previous  to  the  meeting  of  Decem- 
ber 3<Dth  it  was  the  preliminary  proclamation  that  was  con- 
sidered and  the  Chase  amendment  was  not  added  to  the 
preliminary  proclamation  but  to  the  final  document  that  freed 
the  slaves.  The  "Draft  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  of 
January  First,  1863,  as  submitted  to  the  Cabinet  for  Final 
Revision  December  30th,  1862,"  is  published  in  full  in  the 
Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIIL,  pp.  155, 
156,  157,  and  does  not  contain  the  Chase  amendment.  That 
amendment  was  written  by  Mr.  Chase  at  President  Lincoln's 
request  and  is  as  follows:  "And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  be- 
lieved to  be  an  act  of  justice,  warranted  by  the  Constitution 
upon  military  necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment 
of  mankind  and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God."  " 

When  that  amendment  was  read  by  Mr.  Chase  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Cabinet  it  was  at  once  accepted  in  full  by 
Mr.  Lincoln,  who  added  the  three  words,  "upon  military 
necessity,"  and  made  it  the  closing  paragraph  of  the  procla- 
mation. And  as  that  amendment  is  not  in  the  copy  of  the 
proclamation  which  was  considered  by  the  Cabinet  December 
3Oth,  and  is  in  the  proclamation  that  was  issued  two  days 
later,  we  are  assured  that  it  must  have  been  presented  and 
accepted  by  the  President  at  that  Cabinet  meeting  of  Decem- 
ber 3Oth. 

In  the  news  items  published  at  that  time  there  was  no 
intimation  of  that  meeting  of  the  Cabinet  for  the  "final  re- 
vision" of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  there  was  some 
apprehension  throughout  the  country  that  the  President 
would  be  induced  to  refrain  from  issuing  the  edict  on  the 
ist  of  January  as  was  promised  in  the  preliminary  document. 
When  New  Year's  Day  arrived  all  things  moved  along  as 
usual  at  the  White  House.  The  great  popular  reception  was 
more  brilliant  and  more  largely  attended  than  any  like  func- 
11  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIIL,  p  164. 


236    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

tion  under  President  Lincoln  had  been,  and  there  was  no 
mention  of  the  momentous  document  that  was  known  to  be 
due  at  sometime  during  that  day.  The  anxious  nation,  and 
the  attentive  world,  were  listening  to  every  click  of  the  tele- 
graphic machinery  which  at  length  announced  that  the  proc- 
lamation of  freedom  had  been  signed  by  President  Lincoln. 
He  had  been  severely  taxed  by  the  prolonged  New  Year's 
Day  reception,  and  his  right  hand  was  swollen  from  greeting 
the  thousands  of  people  during  several  successive  hours,  but 
there  is  no  trace  of  tremor  in  the  signature  "Abraham  Lin- 
coln" which  was  that  day  attached  to  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  that  was  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  slavery  in 
"The  land  of  the  free,  and  the  home  of  the  brave." 

In  the  great  centers  of  population  there  were  cannon  in  readi- 
ness to  boom  forth  the  glad  tidings,  and  before  nightfall  the 
rural  districts  also  were  alive  with  demonstrations  of  patri- 
otic delight. 

Mr.  Lincoln  repeatedly  avowed  his  conviction  that  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation  was  constitutional  and  valid  and 
would  never  be  declared  otherwise.  Before  issuing  it  he 
stated  many  times  and  with  great  clearness  and  force  that 
it  was  not  only  his  right  but  his  imperative  duty  to  employ 
all  necessary  means  to  preserve  the  Union.  His  illustration 
of  a  surgeon  "sacrificing  a  limb  to  save  a  life"  was  an  un- 
equivocal declaration  of  his  belief  in  the  validity  of  the 
measures  that  destroyed  slavery  to  save  the  nation.  In  the 
final  Emancipation  Proclamation  he  expressed  the  belief  that 
that  document  was  "warranted  by  the  constitution  upon  mili- 
tary necessity"  and  that  belief  was  many  times  expressed  by 
him  in  clear  and  forceful  language.  Six  months  after  the 
final  proclamation  was  issued,  in  a  letter  to  General  S.  A. 
Hurlbut,  dated  July  3ist,  1863,  he  said  of  the  proclamation: 
"I  think  it  is  valid  in  law  and  will  be  so  held  by  the  courts. 
.  .  .  Those  who  shall  have  tasted  actual  freedom  I  believe 
can  never  be  slaves  or  quasi-slaves  again."  12 

18  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  22. 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  237 

August  26th,  1863,  in  the  Conkling  letter  he  said  to  the 
opponents  of  his  administration  in  Illinois:  "You  dislike  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  perhaps  would  have  it  re- 
tracted. You  say  it  is  unconstitutional.  I  think  differently. 
I  think  the  Constitution  invests  its  commander-in-chief  with 
the  law  of  war  in  time  of  war.  The  most  that  can  be  said — 
if  so  much — is  that  slaves  are  property.  Is  there — has  there 
ever  been — any  question  that  by  the  law  of  war,  property, 
both  of  enemies  and  friends,  may  be  taken  when  needed? 
And  is  it  not  needed  whenever  taking  it  helps  us,  or  hurts  the 
enemy."  13 

Mr.  Lincoln's 

FIDELITY  TO  EMANCIPATION 

was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  features  of  his  life.  From  the 
22nd  of  July,  1862,  when  he  first  submitted  the  preliminary 
proclamation  to  the  Cabinet,  he  never  wavered  in  his  adher- 
ence to  the  policy  that  gave  freedom  to  the  slaves.  Of  neces- 
sity that  policy  to  be  effective  had  to  include  the  enlistment 
and  training  of  colored  soldiers  and  their  participation  in 
military  activities,  the  employment  by  the  government  of 
colored  laborers  and  care  for  dependent  colored  people. 

All  this  and  more  of  a  kindred  character  President  Lincoln 
accepted  without  hesitation  or  reserve  and  supported  with  all 
the  authority  and  power  with  which  his  great  office  was 
invested. 

He  did  not  enter  upon  that  policy  rashly  nor  with  haste. 
Before  his  first  inauguration  he  realized  that  Emancipation 
might  become  a  necessity  and  he  conferred  freely,  though  in 
strict  confidence,  with  Hon.  Robert  J.  Walker  relative  to  the 
matter  before  he  had  been  President  three-fourths  of  a  year. 

On  the  2  ist  of  November,   1861,  in  an  interview  with 

Governor  Walker  and  Mr.  James  R.  Gilmore,  in  disclosing 

the  possibility  of  an  edict  of  freedom,  he  said:   "If  such  a 

proclamation  should  once  be  issued  we  should  have  to  stand 

13  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  98. 


238    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

by  it  and  refuse  any  settlement  with  the  South  that  did  not 
recognize  the  freedom  of  the  slave."  14 

That  was  just  like  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  during  succeed- 
ing years  that  statement  to  Walker  and  Gilmore  was  followed 
by  many  declarations  of  a  similar  character,  and  by  such 
measures  as  were  needed  to  make  them  effective. 

On  the  evening  after  he  had  signed  the  final  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  in  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Colfax,  President 
Lincoln  declared:  "The  South  had  fair  warning  that  if  they 
did  not  return  to  their  duty  I  should  strike  at  the  pillar  of 
their  strength.  The  promise  must  now  be  kept  and  I  shall 
never  recall  one  word." 

August  26th,  1863,  in  the  Conkling  letter  before  men- 
tioned, he  said:  "The  proclamation  as  law  either  is  valid  or  it 
is  not  valid.  If  it  is  not  valid  it  needs  no  retraction.  If  it  is 
valid  it  cannot  be  retracted  any  more  than  the  dead  can  be 
brought  to  life.  .  .  .  Negroes,  like  other  people,  act  upon 
motives.  Why  should  they  do  anything  for  us  if  we  will 
do  nothing  for  them?  If  they  stake  their  lives  for  us  they 
must  be  prompted  by  the  strongest  motives,  even  the  promise 
of  freedom.  And  that  promise  being  made  must  be  kept."  15 

December  8th,  1863,  President  Lincoln  in  his  annual  mes- 
sage to  Congress,  in  referring  to  the  messages  relating  to 
slavery,  indited  these  weighty  words:  "Those  laws  and  proc- 
lamations were  enacted  and  put  forth  for  the  purpose  of 
aiding  in  the  suppression  of  the  Rebellion.  To  give  them 
their  fullest  effect,  there  had  to  be  a  pledge  for  their  mainte- 
nance. In  my  judgment  they  have  aided,  and  will  further  aid, 
the  cause  for  which  they  were  intended.  To  now  abandon 
them  would  be  not  only  to  relinquish  a  lever  of  power,  but 
would  also  be  a  cruel  and  an  astonishing  breach  of  faith.  I 
may  add,  at  this  point,  that  while  I  remain  in  my  present 
position  I  shall  not  attempt  to  retract  or  modify  the  Emanci- 
pation Proclamation;  nor  shall  I  return  to  slavery  any  per- 

14  Personal  Recollections  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  60. 

15  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  IX.,  pp.  99-100. 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  239 

son  who  is  free  by  the  terms  of  that  proclamation,  or  by  any 
of  the  acts  of  Congress."  18 

Accompanying  the  annual  message  from  which  the  fore- 
going is  quoted,  President  Lincoln  sent  to  Congress  a  proc- 
lamation of  amnesty  which  he  had  issued,  in  which  he  re- 
quired all  insurgents  desiring  pardon  to  take  and  subscribe  to 

the  following  oath:  "I, ,  do  solemnly  swear,  in  presence 

of  Almighty  God,  that  I  will  henceforth  faithfully  support, 
protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  union  of  the  States  thereunder;  and  that  I  will,  in  like 
manner,  abide  by  and  faithfully  support  all  acts  of  Congress 
passed  during  the  existing  Rebellion  with  reference  to  slaves, 
so  long  and  so  far  as  not  repealed,  modified,  or  held  void  by 
Congress,  or  by  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court;  and  that  I 
will,  in  like  manner,  abide  by  and  faithfully  support  all  proc- 
lamations of  the  President  made  during  the  existing  Rebellion 
having  reference  to  slaves,  so  long  and  so  far  as  not  modified 
or  declared  void  by  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court.  So  help 
me  God."17 

July  pth,  1864,  in  a  letter  to  Horace  Greeley,  he  stated 
that  any  terms  of  peace  to  be  considered  by  him  must  include 
"the  restoration  of  the  Union  and  the  abandonment  of 
slavery." 

July  1 8th,  1864,  in  a  proclamation  "to  whom  it  may  con- 
cern," he  repeated  the  statement  that  terms  of  peace  must 
include  "the  abandonment  of  slavery,"  and  the  parole  prepared 
by  him  about  the  same  time  required  those  who  should  seek 
parole  to  pledge  their  honors  not  to  hinder  nor  discourage  the 
enlistment  or  employment  by  the  Union  Government  of  col- 
ored soldiers. 

August  1 5th,  1864,  in  an  interview  with  John  T.  Mills, 
he  declared  that  he  "should  deserve  to  be  damned  in  time  and 
eternity"  if  he  should  "return  to  slavery  the  black  warriors 
of  the  Union  Army,"  and  added,  "come  what  will  I  will  keep 

16  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  249. 

17  Ibid.,  p.  220. 


240    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

my  faith  with  friend  and  foe.  .  .  .  No  human  power  can 
subdue  this  Rebellion  without  the  use  of  the  Emancipation 
policy  and  every  other  policy  calculated  to  weaken  the  moral 
and  physical  forces  of  the  Rebellion." 

December  6th,  1864,  after  his  re-election,  in  his  annual 
message  to  Congress,  the  President  made  the  following  re- 
markable declaration:  "In  presenting  the  abandonment  of 
armed  resistance  to  the  national  authority  on  the  part  of  the 
insurgents  as  the  only  indispensable  condition  to  ending  the 
war  on  the  part  of  the  Government,  I  retract  nothing  hereto- 
fore said  as  to  slavery.  I  repeat  the  declaration  made  a  year 
ago,  that  'while  I  remain  in  my  present  position  I  shall  not 
attempt  to  retract  or  modify  the  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
nor  shall  I  return  to  slavery  any  person  who  is  free  by  the 
terms  of  that  proclamation,  or  by  any  of  the  acts  of  Con- 
gress/ 

"If  the  people  should,  by  whatever  mode  or  means,  make 
it  an  executive  duty  to  re-enslave  such  persons,  another,  and 
not  I  must  be  their  instrument  to  perform  it."  18 

In  publishing  this  statement  by  President  Lincoln,  Mr. 
Elaine  in  his  great  work  says:  "This  was  fair  notice  by  Mr. 
Lincoln  to  all  the  world  that  so  long  as  he  was  President 
the  absolute  validity  of  the  Proclamation  would  be  maintained 
at  all  hazards."  19 

January  3ist,  1865,  in  his  instructions  to  Seward,  who 
was  to  confer  with  the  Confederate  Commissioners  at  Hamp- 
ton Roads,  the  President  said:  "No  receding  by  the  Executive 
of  the  United  States,  on  the  slavery  question,  from  the  position 
assumed  thereon  in  the  late  annual  message  to  Congress  and 
in  preceding  documents." 

February  3rd,  1865,  in  his  own  and  Mr.  Seward's  interview 
with  those  Commissioners  "the  President  announced  thr  he 
must  not  be  expected  to  depart  from  the  positions  he  had 
heretofore  assumed  in  his  Proclamation  of  Emancipation  and 

18  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  310. 

19  Twenty  Years  of  Congress,  Vol.  I.,  p.  535. 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  241 

other  documents  as  these  positions  were  reiterated  in  his  last 
annual  message." 

During  that  same  interview  at  Hampton  Roads,  the 
Southern  Commissioners  were  informed  that  Congress  on  the 
3ist  of  December  had,  by  the  requisite  majority  voted  to  sub- 
mit to  the  states  a  constitutional  amendment  abolishing  slavery 
throughout  the  Union,  and  that  it  would  undoubtedly  be  ap- 
proved by  three-fourths  of  the  states  and  become  a  part  of 
the  national  organic  law.  This  was  startling  information  for 
the  Southern  Commissioners,  for  they  had  not  before  learned 
of  the  result  of  the  vote  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and 
like  those  who  voted  against  the  amendment  in  Congress,  they 
were  cherishing  the  hope  that  the  proposition  would  fail  to 
receive  the  requisite  two-thirds  affirmative  vote. 

Hon.  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  one  of  the  Confederate 
Commissioners,  in  his  accctmt  of  this  interview  states  that 
President  Lincoln  said  to  the  Commissioners  that  "he  never 
would  change  or  modify  the  terms  of  the  proclamation  in  the 
slightest  particular."  *° 

February-  icth,  1865,  in  his  message  to  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, giving  desired  information  respecting  the  Hamp- 
ton Roads  Conference,  President  Lincoln  said:  "The  whole 
substance  of  the  instructions  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  here- 
inbefore cited,  was  stated  and  insisted  upon,  and  nothing  was 
said  inconsistent  therewith."  21 

April  3rd,  1865,  during  his  brief  visit  at  Richmond,  upon 
seeing  large  numbers  of  the  colored  people  kneeling  before 
him,  he  said:  "Do  not  kneel  to  me;  that  is  not  right.  You 
must  kneel  to  God  only,  and  thank  Him  for  the  liberty  you 
will  hereafter  enjoy.  I  am  but  God's  humble  instrument; 
but  you  may  rest  assured  that  as  long  as  I  live  no  one  will 
put  a  shackle  on  your  limbs,  and  you  shall  have  the  rights 
which  God  has  given  to  every  other  free  citizen  of  this 
Republic."  (Admiral  Porter's  report.) 

20  War  Between  the  States,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  610-611. 

£1  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  XL,  p.  28. 


242    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

In  the  final  Emancipation  Proclamation,  President  Lincoln 
promised  to  "recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom"  of  those 
who  should  be  made  free  by  that  edict,  and  now  standing  in 
the  street  of  the  captured  capital  of  the  insurgents,  with  the 
Rebellion  falling  into  ruins  all  about  him,  he  solemnly  and  in 
the  name  of  God  renewed  that  promise  to  the  bewildered  and 
black  throng  before  him.  The  assurance  he  then  gave  them 
was  the  climax  of  all  he  had  before  said  relative  to  the  per- 
petuity of  their  freedom,  and  the  scene  was  suitable  for  the 
closing  days  of  the  life  of  the  great  Emancipator.  It  will 
richly  reward  the  reader  carefully  to  study  the  foregoing 
quotations  and  to  note  the  fidelity  and  care  with  which  Mr. 
Lincoln,  as  lawyer  and  statesman,  closes  up  every  avenue  by 
which  hostile  influences  could  creep  in  and  interfere  with  the 
efficacy  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation. 

Very  wide  publicity  has  been  given  to  the  misleading  state- 
ment that  at  the  Hampton  Roads  Conference,  February  3rd, 
1865,  President  Lincoln  handed  Vice-President  Alexander  H. 
Stephens — one  of  the  Confederate  Commissioners — a  blank 
sheet  of  paper,  promising  as  he  did  so,  to  sign  any  terms  of 
peace  with  the  restoration  of  the  Union  which  Mr.  Stephens 
would  write  upon  it. 

This  statement  has  received  such  a  measure  of  verifica- 
tion that  it  has  been  given  general  credence  and  has  led  to 
the  impression  that  at  that  Conference  Mr.  Lincoln  offered  to 
compromise  with  the  South  respecting  slavery.  We  do  not 
know  with  certainty  that  such  an  event  occurred,  but  we  do 
know  with  absolute  certainty  that  Mr.  Lincoln  at  that  con- 
ference assured  the  Confederate  Commissioners  that  there 
would  be  no  receding  from  the  position  the  Union  Government 
had  taken  respecting  slavery.  This  was  stated  very  clearly 
by  him  before  the  Conference  met,  was  repeated  by  him  dur- 
ing the  Conference,  as  Mr.  Stephens  himself  states,  and  it  was 
included  by  Mr.  Lincoln  in  his  report  to  Congress  relative  to 
the  interview  with  the  Confederate  Commissioners.  There- 
fore, if  Mr.  Lincoln  made  Mr.  Stephens  the  proposition  before 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  243 

recited,  Mr.  Stephens  knew  at  the  time  that  it  did  not  include 
any  suggestion  of  compromise  respecting  slavery. 

But  while  President  Lincoln  expressed  his  purpose  to 
adhere  strictly  to  the  Emancipation  policy  of  the  General  Gov- 
ernment he  assured  the  Commissioners  that  he  would  favor 
the  appropriation  by  Congress  of  four  hundred  million  dollars 
as  compensation  to  the  South  for  financial  loss  sustained  by 
rhe  freeing  of  the  slaves.  He  told  the  Commissioners  that  he 
believed  he  could  secure  favorable  action  of  Congress  upon 
that  proposition,  and  had  his  offer  at  that  time  been  accepted 
it  would  not  only  have  accomplished  the  immediate  cessation 
of  hostilities  and  thus  prevented  the  great  loss  and  suffering 
of  the  months  that  followed,  but  it  would  also  have  enabled 
the  South  to  retire  from  the  struggle  in  better  financial  con- 
dition than  was  the  North.  But  acting  under  their  instruction 
from  Jefferson  Davis,  those  Commissioners  were  not  at  liberty 
even  to  consider  Mr.  Lincoln's  suggestion. 

Mr,  Lincoln,  when  he  adopted  the  Emancipation  policy, 

WAS  NOT  CERTAIN 

that  it  would  be  helpful  to  the  Union  cause.  He  knew  it  would 
arouse  into  more  violent  activity  the  hostile  influences  arrayed 
against  him,  and  he  hoped  it  would  stimulate  the  zeal  of  all 
friends  of  the  Government. 

September  24th,  1862,  at  a  serenade  given  on  the  occasion 
of  the  preliminary  proclamation  which  had  been  issued  two 
days  before,  President  Lincoln  said:  "What  I  did  I  did  after 
a  very  full  deliberation  and  under  a  very  heavy  and  solemn 
sense  of  responsibility.  I  can  only  trust  in  God  I  have  made 
no  mistake." 

In  his  annual  message  to  Congress,  December  8th,  1863, 
Mr.  Lincoln,  in  reviewing  this  period  of  his  administration, 
remarks:  "The  policy  of  emancipation  and  of  employing 
black  soldiers,  gave  to  the  future  a  new  aspect,  about  which 
hope  and  fear  and  doubt  contended  in  uncertain  conflict." 


244    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

There  is  a  graphic  picture  of  that  conflict  in  the  account  of 
President  Lincoln's  interview  with  the  delegation  from  Chicago 
on  the  1 3th  of  September,  1862,  during  which  he  said:  "What 
good  would  a  proclamation  of  emancipation  from  me  do, 
especially  as  we  are  now  situated?  I  do  not  want  to  issue  a 
document  that  the  whole  world  will  see  must  necessarily  be 
inoperative,  like  the  Pope's  bull  against  the  comet.  Would 
my  word  free  the  slaves,  when  I  cannot  even  enforce  the 
Constitution  in  the  rebel  States?  It  would  help  somewhat  at 
the  North,  though  not  so  much,  I  fear,  as  you  and  those 
you  represent  imagine.  ...  I  am  not  so  sure  we  could  do 
much  with  the  blacks.  If  we  were  to  arm  them,  I  fear  that 
in  a  few  weeks  the  arms  would  be  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels. 
.  .  .  There  are  fifty  thousand  bayonets  in  the  Union  arms 
from  the  Border  slave  states.  It  would  be  a  serious  matter 
if,  in  consequence  of  a  proclamation  such  as  you  desire,  they 
should  go  over  to  the  rebels."  2Z 

Summing  up  all  these  apprehensions  and  also  the  hopes 
which  he  cherished,  the  utmost  that  Mr.  Lincoln  could  con- 
fidently anticipate  as  to  the  influence  on  the  Union  cause  of 
a  policy  of  emancipation,  is  stated  by  him  in  his  review  of 
these  events  in  the  Hodges  letter  of  April  4th,  1864,  in  the 
following:  "In  choosing  it  (emancipation)  I  hoped  for  greater 
gain  than  loss,  but  of  this  I  was  not  entirely  confident."  23 

But,  notwithstanding  his  misgivings  at  the  time  respecting 
the  influence  of  emancipation  upon  the  Union  cause,  after  it 
had  been  fairly  tried,  Mr.  Lincoln  gave  strong  testimony  to 
the  helpfulness  of  that  policy  in  the  nation's  struggle  for 
existence. 

August  26th,  1863,  in  the  Conkling  letter  he  said:  "Some 
of  the  commanders  of  our  armies  in  the  field  who  have  given 
us  our  most  important  successes,  believe  the  Emancipation 
policy  and  the  use  of  the  colored  troops  constitute  the  heaviest 
blow  yet  dealt  to  the  Rebellion,  and  that  at  least  one  of  these 

22  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  pp.  30,  32-33. 

23  Ibid.,  Vol.  X.,  p.  65. 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  245 

important  successes  could  not  have  been  achieved  when  it  was, 
without  the  aid  of  black  soldiers." 

And  in  the  same  letter  is  the  following  graphic  and  thrill- 
ing statement:  "Peace  does  not  appear  so  distant  as  it  did. 
I  hope  it  will  come  soon,  and  come  to  stay;  and  so  come  as 
to  be  worth  the  keeping  in  all  future  time.  .  .  .  And  then 
there  will  be  some  black  men  who  can  remember  that  with 
silent  tongue,  and  clenched  teeth,  and  steady  eye,  and  well 
poised  bayonet,  they  have  helped  mankind  on  to  this  great 
consummation,  while  I  fear  there  will  be  some  white  ones 
unable  to  forget  that  with  malignant  heart  and  deceitful  speech 
they  strove  to  hinder  it."  2* 

December  8th,  1863,  after  the  employment  of  colored  sol- 
diers in  the  army  had  been  for  eleven  months  in  operation, 
in  his  annual  message  to  Congress,  the  President  stated  that 
a  hundred  thousand  colored  soldiers  were  connected  with  the 
Union  Army,  that  they  were  "as  good  soldiers  as  any,"  that 
"no  servile  insurrection,  or  tendency  to  violence  or  cruelty, 
has  marked  the  measures  of  emancipation  and  arming  the 
blacks,"  and  that  their  employment  by  the  Government  had 
taken  from  the  resources  of  the  Rebellion  and  added  to  the 
strength  and  success  of  the  Union  forces.  "Tennessee  and 
Arkansas,"  said  he,  "have  been  substantially  cleared  of  in- 
surgent control  and  influential  citizens  in  each,  owners  of 
slaves  and  advocates  of  slavery  at  the  beginning  of  the  Re- 
bellion now  declare  openly  for  emancipation  in  their  respective 
states."  "In  Maryland  and  Missouri  the  people  who  had 
been  favorable  to  slavery  and  to  its  unhindered  extension 
into  the  territories  of  the  nation,  only  dispute  now  as  to  the 
best  mode  of  removing  it  within  their  own  limits."  And 
to  these  statements  of  achievement  under  the  Emancipa- 
tion policy  with  seeming  relief  and  gratitude,  he  added:  "The 
crisis  which  threatened  to  defeat  the  friends  of  the  Union  is 
passed."  25 

24  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  IX.,  pp.  101-102. 

25  Ibid.,  pp.  246-247. 


246    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

April  4th,  1864 — four  months  after  the  beforementioned 
message  to  Congress — in  the  Hodges  letter  Mr.  Lincoln  said: 
"More  than  a  year  of  trial  now  shows  no  loss  by  it  in  our 
foreign  relations,  none  in  our  home  popular  sentiment,  none  in 
our  white  military  force — no  loss  by  it  any  how  or  any  where. 
On  the  contrary,  it  shows  a  gain  of  quite  a  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand  soldiers,  seamen  and  laborers.  These  are  palpable 
facts  about  which,  as  facts,  there  can  be  no  caviling.  We 
have  the  men;  and  we  could  not  have  had  them  without  the 
measure."  2S 

August  1 5th,  1864,  after  the  Emancipation  policy  had  been 
in,  operation  more  than  a  year  and  a  half,  in  an  interview 
with  General  John  T.  Mills,  President  Lincoln  said:  "There 
are  now  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  nearly  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  able-bodied  colored  men,  most  of 
them  under  arms,  defending  and  acquiring  Union  territory. 
.  .  .  Abandon  all  the  posts  now  garrisoned  by  black  men, 
take  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  from  our  side  and 
put  them  in  the  battlefield  or  cornfield  against  us,  and  we  would 
be  compelled  to  abandon  the  war  in  three  weeks.  ...  No 
human  power  can  subdue  this  Rebellion  without  the  use  of 
the  Emancipation  policy  and  every  other  policy  calculated  to 
weaken  the  moral  and  physical  force  of  the  Rebellion.  Free- 
dom has  given  us  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  raised 
on  Southern  soil.  It  will  give  us  more  yet.  Just  so  much  it 
has  subtracted  from  the  enemy,  and,  instead  of  alienating  the 
South  there  are  now  evidences  of  a  fraternal  feeling  growing 
up  between  our  men  and  the  rank  and  file  of  the  rebel  soldiers. 
Let  my  enemies  prove  to  the  country  that  the  destruction  of 
slavery  is  not  necessary  to  the  restoration  of  the  Union.  I 
will  abide  the  issue."  27 

Many  strong  and  stubborn  influences  combined  to  delay 
the  adoption  of  the  Emancipation  policy,  but  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  not  chargeable  with  that  delay.  Upon  those  who  from 

28  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  65. 
27  Ibid.,  p.  191. 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION  247 

whatever  motive  opposed  emancipation  rested  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  prolonged  withholding  by  the  President  of  the 
proclamation  of  freedom.  As  soon  as  he  could  do  so  legally 
and  effectively  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  the  Emancipation  Proclama- 
tion. Respecting  this  in  his  interview  with  George  Thomp- 
son, he  said:  "It  is  my  conviction  that,  had  the  proclamation 
been  issued  even  six  months  earlier  than  it  was,  public  senti- 
ment would  not  have  sustained  it.  Just  so,  as  to  the  subse- 
quent action  in  reference  to  enlisting  blacks  in  the  Border 
States.  The  step  taken  sooner,  could  not,  in  my  judgment, 
have  been  carried  out.  .  .  .  We  have  seen  this  great  revo- 
lution in  public  sentiment  slowly  but  surely  progressing  so 
that,  when  the  final  action  came,  the  opposition  was  not  strong 
enough  to  defeat  the  purpose."  z8 

But,  although  that  "opposition"  could  not  "defeat  the 
purpose,"  it  could  and  did  delay  the  issuing  of  the  proclama- 
tion of  which  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "It  is  the  central  act  of  my 
administration  and  the  great  event  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury." 

But  important  and  helpful  as  was  that  proclamation  it 
could  not  make  any  portion  of  the  nation  free  territory.  It 
applied  to  slaves  but  not  to  slavery.  It  freed  all  the  slaves 
in  the  insurgent  states  and  it  pledged  the  national  Govern- 
ment to  "recognize  and  maintain"  their  freedom.  But  it 
could  not  repeal  nor  modify  the  constitutions  and  laws  of  those 
states  granting  the  right  to  hold  slaves.  Slaves  were  re- 
garded and  dealt  with  as  property,  and  as  such  they  could 
be  given  freedom  as  an  act  of  war.  But  the  right  to  hold 
slaves  in  those  states  being  granted  by  state  constitutions  and 
laws  would  remain  untouched  by  the  proclamation  and  would 
be  in  full  force  upon  the  return  of  peace  and  the  restoration 
of  normal  conditions.  Those  who  had  been  made  free  by  the 
proclamation  could  not  be  again  enslaved,  but  others  could 
be  under  the  constitutions  and  laws  authorizing  slavery.  The 
general  Government  as  an  act  of  war  could  take  all  the  horses 
28  Six  Months  in  the  White  House,  p.  77. 


248    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

owned  in  the  insurgent  states,  but  it  could  not  deny  the  people 
of  those  states  the  right  to  hold  property  in  horses  after  peace 
was  restored.  No  more  could  the  General  Government  deny 
or  abridge  the  right  to  hold  property  in  slaves  in  the  insurgent 
states  when  there  was  no  "military  necessity"  for  so  doing. 
Under  the  rights  "reserved  to  the  states"  by  the  national  Con- 
stitution the  property  rights  of  the  property  in  times  of  peace 
were  untouched  by  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  Pro- 
slavery  people  in  the  insurgent  states  who  were  opposed  to 
emancipation  understood  all  this  and  declared  their  purpose 
to  re-establish  slavery  when  peace  should  be  restored. 

This  purpose  was  expressed  by  Senator  Garrett  Davis  of 
Kentucky,  when,  in  a  speech  in  the  senate,  he  said:  "If  you 
should  liberate  the  slaves  in  the  rebellious  States,  the  moment 
you  reorganize  the  white  inhabitants  of  these  states,  as  states 
of  the  Union,  they  would  reduce  these  slaves  again  to  a  state 
of  slavery,  or  they  would  expel  them,  or  hunt  them  like  wild 
beasts  and  exterminate  them." 

In  President  Lincoln's  strong  testimony  to  the  validity  and 
effectiveness  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  he  never 
stated  nor  intimated  that  it  accomplished  all  that  was  in  his 
heart  to  achieve  respecting  slavery.  He  regarded  and  declared 
slavery  to  be  "the  root  of  the  Rebellion,"  and  he  was  fully 
convinced  that  the  future  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  nation 
required  that  it  be  utterly  exterminated.  But  he  did  not  issue 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation  with  the  expectation  that  it 
would  destroy  slavery,  although  he  cherished  the  hope  that 
it  would  be  followed  by  other  measures  that  would  accomplish 
that  result. 

Therefore,  in  the  preliminary  proclamation  President  Lin- 
coln stated  his  purpose  to  recommend  in  his  next  annual  mes- 
sage to  Congress  such  action  as  would  tend  to  promote  the 
abolition  of  slavery  by  the  loyal  slave-holding  states.  And 
from  that  day  he  was  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  encourage  and 
aid  such  action  in  states  not  included  in  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation. 


u 


O 

•a 


VIII 

CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT 

WHEN  on  the  8th  of  December,  1863,  the  Thirty- 
eighth  Congress  convened  for  its  first  session  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation  had  been  in  force  for 
more  than  eleven  months.  All  of  the  members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  of  that  Congress  had  been  chosen  by  the 
people  after  the  preliminary  proclamation  was  issued,  and, 
as  already  stated,  in  some  cases  the  proclamation  seemed  to 
have  exerted  an  influence  on  the  election  unfavorable  to  the 
administration.  But  during  the  year  and  more  between  the 
election  and  the  convening  of  Congress  there  had  been  great 
advance  in  antislavery  sentiment  throughout  the  loyal  states, 
and  the  achievements  of  the  army  with  its  addition  of  colored 
troops  were  proving  the  wisdom  of  the  Emancipation  policy. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  efforts  by  compensation  and  other 
methods  to  secure  the  abolition  of  slavery  by  the  action  of 
slave  holding,  loyal  states  had  not  met  with  encouraging  suc- 
cess, and  gave  little  promise  of  accomplishing  the  destruction 
of  slavery.  But  the  purpose  to  remove  the  evil  that  all  knew 
had  caused  the  Rebellion  and  to  leave  no  cancerous  root  to 
cause  future  trouble  had  become  strong  and  intense  in  all  the 
free  states  and  was  rapidly  increasing  in  the  loyal  portions  of 
the  South. 

The  President  in  his  annual  message  to  Congress  gave  a 
glowing  account  of  the  workings  of  emancipation  and  espe- 
cially the  employment  of  colored  troops  in  the  Union  Army; 
and  in  discussing  the  proclamation  of  freedom  he  made  the 
famous  declaration  that  he  would  never  "return  to  slavery 
any  person  who  is  free  by  the  terms  of  that  proclamation." 
He  referred  very  briefly,  but  earnestly,  to  his  favorite  propo- 
sition for  compensation  to  "the  states  not  included  in  the 

249 


250    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Emancipation  Proclamation"  which  should  abolish  slavery, 
and  submitted  an  Amnesty  Proclamation  he  had  issued  for 
insurgents  who  wished  to  resume  allegiance  to  the  National 
Government. 

Thus  the  historic  Thirty-eighth  Congress  began  its  first 
session  in  an  atmosphere  surcharged  with  hostility  to  slavery, 
and  on  the  I4th  of  December — as  early  as  possible  after  Con- 
gress convened — two  Constitutional  amendments  abolishing 
and  prohibiting  slavery  were  introduced  in  the  House,  the  first 
by  Hon.  James  M.  Ashley  of  Ohio,  and  the  other  by  Hon. 
James  F.  Wilson  of  Iowa. 

No  action  of  a  similar  character  was  taken  in  the  Senate 
until  after  the  Holiday  recess,  when  on  the  nth  of  January 
Senator  J.  B.  Henderson  of  Missouri  introduced  a  joint  reso- 
lution as  a  Constitutional  Amendment  abolishing  slavery,  and 
nearly  a  month  later,  on  the  8th  of  February,  Senator  Sum- 
ner  of  Massachusetts  introduced  a  similar  joint  resolution 
which  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  as  the 
measure  introduced  by  Senator  Henderson  had  been. 

Senator  Sumner  asked  to  have  his  proposition  referred 
to  a  special  committee  of  which  he  was  chairman,  but  finally 
acquiesced — though  reluctantly — in  its  assignment  to  the  Ju- 
diciary Committee.  The  very  courteously  worded  rivalry  be- 
tween those  two  committees  seems  to  have  hastened  the 
consideration  of  the  two  propositions,  for  after  only  two  days, 
Senator  Lyman  Trumbull  of  Illinois,  chairman  of  the  Judi- 
ciary Committee,  reported  a  joint  resolution  differing  in  its 
phraseology  from  both  of  the  resolutions  which  had  been 
referred  to  his  committee.  Mr.  Sumner  clung  to  the  phrase 
"equality  before  the  law,"  which  he  had  copied  into  his  reso- 
lution from  the  constitution  of  revolutionary  France,  but  the 
consensus  of  opinion  in  the  Senate  was  against  him  and  the 
resolution  as  reported  by  Senator  Trumbull  was  accepted  for 
consideration,  being  in  language  almost  identical  with  the 
Ordinance  of  1787.  The  following  is  the  Constitutional 
Amendment  thus  reported  and  considered  by  Congress  from 


CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  251 

the  loth  of  February,  1864,  to  the  3ist  of  January,  1865, 
when  it  was  passed  and  became  part  of  the  national  Consti- 
tution, by  being  approved  by  the  legislatures  of  three-fourths 
of  the  States: 

ARTICLE  XIII 

Section  i.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  ex- 
cept as  a  punishment  for  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have 
been  duly  convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or 
any  place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction. 

Section  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this 
article  by  appropriate  legislation. 

A  Presidential  election  was  soon  to  be  held  and  it  was 
the  purpose  of  the  republican  leaders  to  make  this  amendment 
an  issue  in  that  election,  and  to  ask  that  it  be  approved  by  the 
people  either  as  having  been  favorably  acted  upon  by  Congress 
or  as  still  pending  there. 

With  this  in  view  the  Senators  and  Representatives  who 
favored  and  those  who  opposed  the  measure  improved  the 
succeeding  weeks  in  preparation  for  the  battle  of  giants  that 
all  knew  would  occur  when  it  should  be  brought  up  for  con- 
sideration and  action.  There  was  never  any  doubt  that  the 
amendment  would  receive  the  requisite  two-thirds  vote  in  the 
senate,  but  our  statesmen  were  making  history  and  were  also 
preparing  for  the  great  struggle  during  the  Presidential  cam- 
paign. Therefore,  when  on  the  28th  of  March,  1864,  Senator 
Trumbull  opened  the  debate  on  the  measure  he  was  followed 
by  other  senators  whose  speeches  were  of  great  erudition  and 
strength. 

On  the  8th  of  April,  1864,  the  amendment  passed  the 
senate  by  a  vote  of  38  to  6,  and  was  soon  after  taken  up 
in  the  house  where,  as  Mr.  Elaine  says,  "Mr.  Ashley  of  Ohio, 
by  common  consent  assumed  parliamentary  charge  of  the 
measure."  x 

As  there  was  at  that  time  no  probability  of  the  amendment 
receiving  the  requisite  two-thirds  vote  in  the  House,  its  con- 
1  Twenty  Years  of  Congress,  Vol.  I.,  p.  507. 


252    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

sideration  in  that  body  was  conducted  with  a  view  to  its 
influence  upon  the  Presidential  campaign  then  in  progress. 
Only  three  days — May  3ist,  June  I4th  and  I5th — were  given 
to  its  discussion,  which  was  of  dynamic  force  and  effective- 
ness. On  the  7th  of  June — between  the  beginning  of  the  dis- 
cussion on  the  3ist  of  May  and  its  resumption  on  the  i4th 
of  June — President  Lincoln  was  unanimously  renominated  by 
a  national  convention  which  with  wild  enthusiasm  endorsed 
the  amendment  and  applauded  every  favorable  reference  to 
the  subject. 

On  the  1 5th  of  June  the  vote  was  taken  and  resulted  in 
yeas  94,  noes  64 — a  large  but  not  a  two-thirds  majority.  So 
the  amendment  seemed  for  the  time  disposed  of  and  hope- 
lessly lost,  until  General  Ashley,  having  the  measure  in  charge, 
changed  his  vote  to  the  negative  and  so  gained  the  right,  of 
which  he  at  once  availed  himself,  to  move  a  reconsideration, 
and  thus  to  place  the  measure  on  the  docket  and  keep  it 
before  the  house  for  further  consideration  and  action. 

This  skillful  parliamentary  maneuver  was  a  stunning  sur- 
prise to  the  opponents  of  the  proposed  amendment,  and  none 
of  its  friends  were  expecting  such  action.  The  great  interest 
awakened  by  the  proposition  soon  subsided  and  the  measure 
seemed  to  be  forgotten  when,  on  the  28th  of  June — thirteen 
days  after  this  unsuccessful  vote — Mr.  Holman,  a  democratic 
member  from  Indiana,  inquired  whether  the  motion  to  re- 
consider would  be  called  up  during  that  session  of  Congress. 
This  question  at  once  elicited  the  attention  of  every  member 
and  all  listened  intently  as  General  Ashley  replied:  "I  do  not 
propose  to  call  the  motion  up  during  the  present  session  of 
Congress,  but  as  the  record  has  been  made  up  we  will  go  to 
the  country  on  the  issue  thus  presented  .  .  .  and  when  the 
verdict  of  the  people  shall  have  been  rendered  next  November, 
I  trust  this  Congress  will  return  determined  to  engraft  that 
verdict  into  the  National  Constitution."  The  scene  that  fol- 
lowed this  episode  can  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  wit- 
nessed it  and  realized  its  significance.  There  was  profound 


CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  253 

silence  and  scarce  a  movement  as  the  members  by  this  answer 
were  brought  to  realize  that  the  Constitutional  Amendment 
was  still  before  them  and  would  be  passed  upon  by  the  people 
before  it  would  again  be  brought  before  them  for  decision. 
Those  who  favored  it  believed  the  issue  would  be  helpful 
to  the  campaign  for  President  Lincoln's  re-election,  and  those 
who  were  opposed  to  it  were  apprehensive  that  making  it 
an  issue  at  the  Presidential  election  would  be  harmful  to  their 
chance  for  continuance  in  Congress.  All  realized  that  the 
trend  of  events  and  evolution  of  public  sentiment  were  against 
slavery,  but  to  secure  the  adoption  of  the  amendment  by  that 
Congress  was  a  task  of  such  huge  proportions  that  it  required 
great  courage  and  determination  to  undertake  it.  What  ren- 
dered the  task  appalling  was  that  it  would  require  122 
votes  to  pass  the  amendment  if  all  members  of  the  House 
should  be  present  and  vote,  and  that  only  94  votes — 28  less 
than  that  required  number — had  been  cast  in  its  favor  on  the 
1 5th  of  June.  And  the  additional  votes  required  to  pass  the 
measure  had  to  be  secured  among  the  64  members  who  voted 
against  it  or  the  24  who  did  not  vote.  It  was  not  a  struggle 
to  win  the  votes  of  ordinary  men,  but  a  contest  for  the  con- 
quest of  men  of  mettle,  as  it  usually  requires  superior  strength 
of  personality  and  gifts  of  leadership  to  become  a  member 
of  Congress. 

Of  far  greater  force  and  more  stubborn  than  any  other 
obstacle  was  the  prejudice  against  the  Negro  race  which  was 
entertained  by  many  people.  That  prejudice  was  largely  the 
product  of  slavery  and  had  been  built  up  into  great  strength 
and  was  intensified  into  bitterness  by  antislavery  teachings  and 
movements,  and  especially  by  this  effort  to  accomplish  the 
utter  destruction  of  slavery  in  the  nation.  Added  to  this 
was  the  hostility  to  abolitionists  and  their  teachings  and  the 
unwise  efforts  by  which  some  members  of  Congress  were 
moved  to  oppose  the  proposed  amendment. 

But  of  all  the  mountains  of  difficulty  which  the  proponents 
of  the  measure  encountered  and  were  required  to  surmount, 


254    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  greatest  was  the  intense  partisan  hostility  to  the  proposed 
abolition  of  slavery.  The  solid  republican  membership  of  the 
House  was  for  the  amendment,  and  the  only  opposition  it 
encountered  came  from  the  democrats,  who  seemecl  to  regard 
the  fate  of  their  party  as  involved  in  the  struggle.  Under 
the  leadership  of  Calhoun  and  his  associates  and  followers, 
the  democratic  party — the  party  of  Jefferson — had  become 
so  fully  committed  and  so  thoroughly  identified  with  slavery 
that  the  continuance  of  that  institution  seemed  necessary  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  future  existence  and  integrity  of  that 
party.  And  the  future  political  hopes  of  democrats  were  de- 
pendent upon  the  continuance  and  success  of  the  democratic 
party.  This  applied  to  war  democrats  who  had  united  with 
the  Union  party  to  support  the  Goverment  against  the  Re- 
bellion, with  the  expectation  of  resuming  their  allegiance  to 
the  democratic  party  when  normal  conditions  were  again 
restored.  To  all  such,  as  well  as  to  those  democrats  who 
adhered  to  their  party  during  the  war,  the  destruction  of 
slavery  seemed  to  imperil  their  party  and  their  own  future 
political  life.  It  was  impossible  to  prevent  the  amendment 
from  appearing  as  a  party  measure.  It  was  known  to  all  that 
it  was  strongly  favored  by  the  President  and  that,  as  already 
stated  in  this  chapter,  it  had  been  unanimously  endorsed  by 
the  great  Baltimore  Convention  with  scarcely  less  enthusiasm 
than  that  which  greeted  the  President's  renomination  and  the 
approval  of  his  administration.  Not  only  was  it  treated  with 
enthusiastic  hospitality  by  the  convention,  but  throughout  the 
Presidential  campaign  it  was  made  an  issue  before  the  people, 
as  was  forecast  by  General  Ashley  in  the  House  on  the  28th 
of  June.  All  this  was  helpful  to  secure  in  November  the 
verdict  of  the  people  for  a  Constitutional  Amendment  abol- 
ishing and  forever  prohibiting  slavery,  but  it  intensified  par- 
tisan hostility  to  that  movement  and  made  it  more  difficult 
when  Congress  reassembled  to  induce  democratic  members 
to  change  their  attitudes  to  the  question  and  vote  for  the 
amendment  then  pending  in  the  House. 


CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  255 

My  recollections  of  the  incidents  connected  with  that  long 
and  arduous  struggle  for  the  destruction  of  slavery  by  Con- 
stitutional Amendment  are  as  distinct  as  is  my  remembrance 
of  the  events  of  yesterday.  I  was  upon  terms  of  close  per- 
sonal friendship  with  members  of  Congress  who  had  been 
lifelong  democrats,  but  were  loyal  and  true  to  the  Government 
during  the  Rebellion,  and  I  heard  from  them  many  emphatic 
declarations  of  their  apprehensions  that  the  destruction  of 
slavery  would  require  such  a  new  alignment  of  political 
parties  throughout  the  nation  as  would  make  uncertain  the 
future  public  career  of  any  democrat  who  voted  for  the  pend- 
ing Constitutional  Amendment. 

The  extent  to  which  loyal  democrats  were  disturbed  by 
the  antislavery  trend  of  the  times  is  indicated  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  President  Lincoln  by  Mr.  Charles  D.  Robinson, 
an  editor  of  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Robinson  was  a  staunch  Union 
man  of  sterling  character  and  a  zealous  adherent  and  cham- 
pion of  the  democratic  party.  His  support  of  the  Government 
in  its  efforts  to  suppress  the  Rebellion  had  been  unequivocal 
and  cordial.  But  after  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  renominated 
on  a  platform  that  endorsed  the  Constitutional  Amendment 
and  had  in  his  Niagara  Falls  correspondence  declared  that 
there  would  be  no  receding  from  the  positions  taken  relative 
to  slavery,  Mr.  Robinson,  on  the  7th  of  August,  1864,  sent 
the  President  a  frank  and  manly  statement  of  the  difficulties 
he  was  confronting  in  his  efforts  to  remain  loyal  to  the 
administration  in  its  attitude  to  slavery.  In  that  letter  he 
stated  that  he  had  hitherto  sustained  the  President's  Emanci- 
pation Policy  on  the  ground  that  it  deprived  the  South  of  its 
laborers  and  thus  undermined  the  strength  of  the  Rebellion. 
But  he  declared  that  the  attitude  of  the  Government  toward 
slavery  "puts  the  whole  war  question  on  a  new  basis,  and 
takes  us  war  democrats  clear  off  our  feet,  leaving  us  no 
ground  to  stand  upon.  If  we  sustain  the  war  and  the  war 
policy,  does  it  not  demand  the  changing  of  our  party  policies? 
I  venture  to  write  you  this  letter,  then,  not  for  the  purpose 


256    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

of  finding  fault  with  your  policy — for  that  you  have  a  right 
to  fix  upon  without  consulting  any  of  us — but  in  the  hope 
that  you  may  suggest  some  interpretation  of  it,  as  well  as 
make  it  tenable  ground  on  which  we  war  democrats  may 
stand — preserve  our  party  consistency — support  the  Govern- 
ment— and  continue  to  carry  also  to  its  support  those  large 
numbers  of  our  old  political  friends  who  have  stood  by  us 
up  to  this  time."  2 

Among  those  democratic  members  of  Congress  who  voted 
against  the  amendment  there  were  many  in  precisely  the  con- 
dition described  by  Mr.  Robinson  in  the  foregoing  letter. 
They  realized  that  their  party  was  so  committed  to  the  de- 
fense of  slavery  that  for  them  to  vote  for  the  proposed 
amendment  would  be  to  commit  political  suicide.  And  yet  to 
induce  men  to  do  that  was  the  only  method  by  which  demo- 
cratic members  of  Congress  who  had  voted  against  that 
amendment  could  be  prevailed  upon  to  change  their  votes  and 
support  the  measure.  • 

That  was  the  situation  which  in  the  campaign  for  the 
passing  of  the  amendment  by  that  House  of  Representatives 
had  to  be  faced  from  the  adjournment  of  Congress  on  the 
Fourth  of  July,  1864,  until  the  final  vote  was  taken  on  the 
3ist  of  January,  1865.  Unfortunately  for  all  the  interests 
involved,  the  Wade-Davis  embroglio,  mentioned  elsewhere  in 
this  volume,  sprang  up  among  the  Union  leaders  immediately 
after  the  adjournment  of  Congress  and  seemed  for  a  time 
likely  to  defeat  the  Union  party.  But  the  Constitutional 
Amendment  served  to  hold  the  administration  forces  together 
and  to  overcome  the  disintegrating  influence  of  that  inexcus- 
able revolt.  Some  extremely  radical  anti slavery  men,  who 
were  ever  ready  to  antagonize  and  embarrass  the  President, 
because  of  his  conservative  nature  and  policies,  were  kept 
from  participating  in  that  embroglio  by  their  great  interest 
in  the  Constitutional  Amendment,  the  adoption  of  which  they 
knew  would  be  impossible  without  Mr.  Lincoln's  re-election. 
2  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  214. 


CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  257 

And  every  favorable  issue  in  the  field,  every  victory  won, 
every  encouraging  prospect  contributed  to  the  strength  of  the 
campaign  for  the  President's  re-election  and  the  endorsement 
by  the  people  of  that  vital  measure. 

At  the  time  the  vote  was  taken  on  the  I5th  of  June  it 
was  known  that  Henry  Winter  Davis  of  Maryland  and 
Francis  P.  Blair  of  Missouri  would  vote  for  the  amendment 
whenever  their  votes  would  secure  its  passage,  and  there  were 
several  other  members  who  voted  against  the  measure  at  that 
time  of  whom  the  same  was  believed  to  be  true.  But  the 
task  of  securing  a  sufficient  number  of  such  changes  to  pass 
the  amendment  was  herculean  and  very  few  of  its  supporters 
hoped  for  success. 

By  parliamentary  courtesy  the  campaign  for  votes  was 
continued  under  General  Ashley's  management  and  was  given 
his  constant  attention.  His  own  re-election  was  regarded 
so  fully  assured  that  his  great  gifts  of  leadership  could  be 
safely  employed  almost  wholly  in  the  interest  of  the  amend- 
ment. Having  an  extensive  acquaintance  with  members  of 
the  House  and  being  a  newspaper  reporter  I  was,  as  General 
Ashley's  secretary,  constantly  engaged  in  aiding  him  in  the 
great  work  which,  as  Mr.  Blaine  says,  "by  common  consent" 
was  entrusted  to  him.  Every  member  of  the  House  and 
Senate  who  had  favored  the  measure  was  interested  in  the 
movement  to  secure  its  passage  at  the  next  session  of  Con- 
gress and  prominent  men  in  all  walks  of  life  and  in  all  the 
loyal  states  gave  the  proposition  their  earnest  and  energetic 
support.  But  all  plans  and  efforts  to  win  votes  for  the  measure 
were  kept  constantly  under  the  direction  of  General  Ashley, 
in  whose  wisdom  and  ability  for  such  work  every  friend  of 
the  amendment  in  and  out  of  Congress  had  unquestioning 
confidence.  Mr.  Blaine  says:  "During  the  contest  Mr.  Ashley 
devoted  himself  with  unswerving  fidelity  and  untiring  zeal" 
to  the  work  of  securing  the  passage  of  the  amendment.  .  .  . 
"He  made  a  forceful  speech  in  support  of  the  amendment, 
but  the  chief  value  of  his  work  did  not  consist  in  speaking, 


258    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

but  in  his  watchful  care  of  the  measure,  in  the  quick  and 
intuitive  judgment  with  which  he  discerned  every  man  on 
the  democratic  side  of  the  House  who  felt  anxious  as  to  the 
vote  he  should  give  on  the  momentous  question,  and  in  the 
pressure  which  he  brought  to  bear  upon  him  from  the  best 
and  most  influential  of  his  constituents."  3 

When  Congress  adjourned  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1864, 
General  Ashley  was  thoroughly  prepared  to  prosecute  the  cam- 
paign for  the  amendment  during  the  recess  and  the  early  weeks 
of  the  next  session,  which  would  begin  in  December.  Aided 
by  the  Hon.  Henry  Winter  Davis  of  Maryland  and  Hon. 
Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  of  Missouri,  he  prepared  a  list  of  nine- 
teen Border  State  men  whose  votes  against  the  amendment 
in  June  were  believed  to  have  been  in  conflict  with  their  per- 
sonal preferences.  They  were  regarded  as  "men  of  broad 
and  liberal  views,  and  strong  and  self-reliant  enough  to  follow 
their  convictions  even  to  political  death,  provided  they  could 
know  that  their  votes  would  pass  the  measure."  He  also 
secured  a  very  large  list  of  the  names  of  influential  men  re- 
siding in  the  districts  represented  by  those  nineteen  men  of 
the  House,  to  aid  in  bringing  pressure  to  bear  upon  them  to 
secure  their  votes  lor  the  amendment  when  it  should  again 
be  brought  before  them. 

Upon  consultation  with  Hon.  Reuben  E.  Fenton,  Governor 
of  New  York,  and  Hon.  Augustus  Frank,  member  of  Con- 
gress from  that  state,  he  prepared  a  list  of  seventeen  Northern 
democrats  whose  votes  he  hoped  to  secure  for  the  amendment, 
and  also  a  list  of  their  most  influential  constituents  to  aid  in 
efforts  to  induce  them  to  support  the  amendment.  From 
Toledo,  Ohio,  his  home  city,  he  prosecuted  the  campaign, 
aided  by  a  limited  number  of  trusted  friends,  until  near  the 
time  for  the  convening  of  Congress.  The  work  was  con- 
ducted with  great  vigor  but  quietly  and  with  no  public  an- 
nouncement of  results  attained. 

Until  after  the  election  in  November  public  thought  and 
8  Twenty  Years  of  Congress,  Vol.  I.,  p.  536. 


HON.   JAMES   M.   ASHLEY   OF   OHIO 

Who  introduced  into  Congress  the  first  bill  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  and  the  first  Constitutional  Amendment  to  abolish 
slavery  in  the  United  States.  He  had  charge  of  both  measures  while 
they  were  before  the  House  of  Representatives.  From  a  photograph 
by  Brady,  presented  the  author  by  General  Ashley. 


CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  259 

effort  were  so  largely  occupied  with  the  Presidential  cam- 
paign and  members  of  the  House  were  so  deeply  concerned 
by  their  own  political  interests  that  this  nation-wide  campaign 
in  support  of  the  amendment  proceeded  without  attracting 
any  considerable  attention.  Hence,  this  feature  of  the  battle 
for  the  abolition  of  slavery  by  Constitutional  Amendment  has 
no  mention  in  the  history  of  those  times,  because  it  was  un- 
known to  those  who  wrote  that  history.  Before  the  adjourn- 
ment of  Congress  in  July  there  was  much  to  encourage  the 
hope  that  the  amendment  would  pass  the  House  during  the 
next  session  if  the  election  in  November  indicated  that  it  was 
approved  by  the  people.  Therefore,  when  President  Lincoln 
was  re-elected  by  a  popular  majority  of  411,281  and  an  elec- 
toral majority  of  191,  with  a  new  House  of  Representatives 
consisting  of  138  Unionists  and  35  democrats,  the  campaign 
in  support  of  the  amendment  took  on  new  life  and  was  prose- 
cuted with  greatly  increased  vigor  and  hope  of  success. 

The  first  thrilling  achievement  during  this  period  was 
made  known  by  a  letter  to  General  Ashley  from  Hon.  George 
H.  Yeaman,  a  democratic  member  of  the  House  from  Ken- 
tucky, and  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  influential  of  the  Border 
State  delegation.  On  the  nth  of  December,  1862,  Judge 
Yeaman  offered  in  the  House  resolutions  declaring  the  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation  "unwarranted  by  the  Constitution  and 
a  useless  and  dangerous  war  measure."  He  had  always  been 
allied  with  the  pro-slavery  forces  and  opposed  the  Constitu- 
tional Amendment  during  the  preceding  session  of  Congress ; 
but  after  the  verdict  of  the  people  in  November  he  at  once 
wrote  General  Ashley  informing  him  of  his  purpose  to  speak, 
vote  and  work  for  the  passage  of  the  amendment.  Coming  as 
it  did  before  the  reconvening  of  Congress  and  at  a  time  when 
the  opposing  forces  were  advancing  for  the  decisive  struggle, 
that  letter  from  the  distinguished  Kentucky  democrat,  filled 
with  enthusiasm  every  one  of  the  little  group  who  were  per- 
mitted to  know  its  contents.  Like  similar  letters  received  dur- 
ing those  weeks  it  was  held  strictly  confidential,  and  not  until 


26o    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

his  very  able  speech  in  support  of  the  amendment  was  deliv- 
ered in  the  House  was  the  public  informed  of  Judge  Yeaman's 
alignment  with  those  who  favored  that  measure. 

The  election  in  November  made  certain  the  passage  of 
this,  or  an  equally  acceptable  amendment,  by  the  next  Con- 
gress if  the  House  failed  at  this  time  to  approve  of  the  pend- 
ing measure.  This  was  both  helpful  and  harmful  to  the 
campaign  then  in  progress.  It  was  helpful  to  know  that  it 
revealed  the  people's  approval  of  the  amendment  and  sounded 
the  death-knell  of  slavery  by  constitutional  provision,  but  that 
also  caused  some  members  whose  votes  were  being  sought  to 
hesitate  in  taking  action  that  would  imperil  their  own  political 
life  when  the  measure  was  assured  of  ultimate  success  without 
their  support. 

The  certainty  of  success  in  the  next  Congress,  if  not  in 
this,  caused  President  Lincoln  very  earnestly  to  desire  the 
passage  of  the  amendment  at  this  session.  He  was  perfectly 
satisfied  with  the  provisions  and  language  of  the  impending 
measure,  and  believing  that  the  Rebellion  would  soon  be  over- 
come, he  was  apprehensive  that  victory  in  the  field  would  be 
so  fully  satisfying  to  the  public  and  to  the  Government  that 
less  effective  provisions  respecting  slavery  might  be  adopted. 
This  apprehension  caused  him  to  urge  members  of  the  House 
in  personal  interviews  and  otherwise  to  pass  the  amendments 
with  least  possible  delay.  In  his  annual  message  of  December 
6th,  1864,  he  said: 

"At  the  last  session  of  Congress  a  proposed  amendment 
of  the  Constitution,  abolishing  slavery  throughout  the  United 
States,  passed  the  Senate,  but  failed  for  lack  of  the  requisite 
two-thirds  vote  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  Although 
the  present  is  the  same  Congress,  and  nearly  the  same  mem- 
bers, and  without  questioning  the  wisdom  or  patriotism  of 
those  who  stood  in  opposition,  I  venture  to  recommend  the 
reconsideration  and  passage  of  the  measure  at  the  present 
session.  Of  course  the  abstract  question  is  not  changed,  but 
an  intervening  election  shows,  almost  certainly,  that  the  next 


CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  261 

Congress  will  pass  the  measure  if  this  does  not.  Hence  there 
is  only  a  question  of  time  as  to  when  the  proposed  amendment 
will  go  to  the  States  for  their  action.  And  as  it  is  to  so  go, 
at  all  events,  may  we  not  agree  that  the  sooner  the  better? 
It  is  not  claimed  that  the  election  has  imposed  a  duty  on 
members  to  change  their  views  or  their  votes  any  further 
than  as  an  additional  element  to  be  considered,  their  judgment 
may  be  affected  by  it.  It  is  the  voice  of  the  people  now  for 
the  first  time  heard  upon  the  question.  In  a  great  national 
crisis  like  ours,  unanimity  of  action  among  those  seeking  a 
common  end  is  very  desirable — almost  indispensable.  And 
yet  no  approach  to  such  unanimity  is  attainable  unless  some 
deference  shall  be  paid  to  the  will  of  the  majority,  simply 
because  it  is  the  will  of  the  majority.  In  this  case  the  com- 
mon end  is  the  maintenance  of  the  Union,  and  among  the 
means  to  secure  that  end,  such  will,  through  the  election,  is 
most  clearly  declared  in  favor  of  such  Constitutional  Amend- 
ment." 4 

During  the  reading  of  this  portion  of  the  President's 
message  upon  the  face  of  each  member  of  the  House  could 
be  read  his  attitude  toward  the  proposed  amendment.  Every 
one  who  was  eager  for  its  passage  was  like  Moses,  who, 
when  he  descended  from  the  Mount,  "wist  not  that  the  skin 
of  his  face  shone."  Those  who  had  decided  to  change  their 
vote  and  support  the  measure  had  an  illumination  of  strength- 
ened purpose  which  they  sought  in  vain  to  conceal.  Those 
who  were  still  undecided  as  to  their  course,  but  with  a  strong 
inclination  in  favor  of  the  amendment,  had  deep  agitation 
depicted  on  their  faces ;  while  those  who  were  settled  in  their 
purpose  to  oppose  the  measure  were  of  gloomy  and  ghastly 
visage.  There  was  no  sneering  or  expressions  of  anger, 
although  all  realized  that  the  greatest  and  most  important 
struggle  in  the  history  of  Congress  had  come. 

As  the  Congress  then  in  session  would  expire  on  the  4th 
of  March  it  was  decided  to  announce  before  the  Holiday 

4  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  pp.  303-304. 


262    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

recess  when  the  motion  to  reconsider  the  vote  on  the  amend- 
ment would  be  called  up  for  consideration.  Therefore,  on 
the  1 5th  of  December,  General  Ashley  stated  in  the  House 
that  on  Friday,  the  6th  of  January,  1865,  he  would  ask  to 
have  his  motion  for  reconsideration  taken  up  for  discussion. 
The  announcement  was  expected  and  attracted  the  attention 
of  every  member  present,  many  of  whom  instantly  arose  and 
with  manifestation  of  great  interest  made  inquiry  respecting 
the  matter.  There  was  no  Holiday  recess  for  those  who  were 
engaged  in  efforts  to  secure  votes  for  the  amendment.  In  the 
seclusion  of  General  Ashley's  committee  room  in  the  Capitol 
confidential  conferences  were  held  with  members  of  the  House 
whose  known  view  concerning  the  amendment  and  whose 
political  status  were  such  as  to  produce  hope  that  they  could 
be  induced  to  support  the  measure,  or  to  refrain  from  opposing 
or  voting  against  it.  President  Lincoln  kept  in  close  touch 
with  this  work  and  gave  it  all  possible  and  proper  encourage- 
ment and  assistance.  He  made  frequent  inquiries  concerning 
the  status  of  the  movement  and  it  was  reported  at  the  time 
that  when  he  was  informed  that  the  measure  was  understood 
to  lack  only  two  votes  of  enough  to  pass  it,  he  exclaimed 
with  that  subdued  emphasis  indicative  of  purposeful  interest, 
"Only  two  votes?  We  must  have  those  votes.  Go  and  get 
them  at  once."  But  Mr.  Lincoln  was  unyielding  in  his  pur- 
pose not  unduly  to  interfere  with  the  prerogatives  of  Con- 
gress. 

Hon.  George  W.  Julian  of  Indiana,  who  was  active  in  the 
campaign  for  the  amendment,  says :  "The  success  of  the  meas- 
ure had  been  considered  very  doubtful  and  depended  upon  cer- 
tain negotiations  the  result  of  which  was  not  fully  assured 
and  the  particulars  of  which  never  reached  the  public."  5 

On  the  29th  of  December,  1864,  during  the  Holiday  vaca- 
tion, Judge  Yeaman,  whose  espousal  of  the  amendment  I  have 
before  mentioned,  sent  General  Ashley  a  second  letter  so 
characteristic  of  the  messages  he  was  then  receiving  and  so 
5  Political  Recollections,  p.  250. 


CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  263 

illustrative  of  the  spirit  by  which  democratic  members  who 
supported  the  amendment  were  dominated,  that  I  reproduce 
it  here  in  full,  the  original  letter  being  now  in  my  possession: 

"Private.  Louisville,  Dec.  29th,  1864. 

Dear  Sir: 

You  may  have  observed  I  was  at  work  a  good  deal  just 
before  leaving  Washington,  so  I  will  tell  you  what  it  was 
about  if  you  will  keep  it  awhile  all  to  yourself.  My  battery 
is  in  position,  my  guns  solid-shotted.  I  have  the  range  and 
will  fire  just  as  soon  as  Mr.  Speaker  is  kind  enough  to  recog- 
nize "the  gentleman  from  Ky."  Of  course,  being,  as  I  am, 
constitutionally  and  habitually  a  conservative  man,  I  will 
have  to  rap  you  radicals  a  few  good  licks,  especially  your 
scheme  of  Reconstruction,  but  the  speech  ^v^ll  carry  Ky.  for 
the  amendment,  with  great  danger  of  cutting  off  my  own 
head  in  my  own  district.  But  I  will  make  the  speech  if  it 
is  the  last  I  ever  do  make.  I  would  like  mine  should  be  one 
of  the  first  speeches  in  its  favor  and  may  not  be  back  before 
the  loth.  So  do  not  hurry  matters. 

Yours, 

GEORGE  H.  YEAMAN." 

Similar  to  this  letter  from  Judge  Yeaman  were  the  con- 
fidential conversations  of  Northern  democrats  and  Border 
State  men  who  had  voted  against  the  amendment  in  June  and 
had  decided  to  give  it  their  support  at  this  time. 

The  enlistment  of  Hon.  Archibald  McAllister  of  Pennsyl- 
vania in  earnest  support  of  the  amendment  added  great  impe- 
tus to  the  campaign.  He  was  a  man  of  heroic  proportions 
and  of  distinguished  appearance.  He  had  not  the  gift  of  effec- 
tive public  address,  but  was  possessed  of  a  great  fund  of 
practical  wisdom  and  tremendous  strength  of  personality.  He 
was  very  active  in  the  work  of  persuading  other  democratic 
members  to  support  the  amendment  and  the  brief  written 
statement  of  his  reasons  for  changing  his  attitude  to  the  meas- 


264    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ure  was  read  by  the  clerk  of  the  House  during  the  last  hour 
of  discussion  and  was  one  of  the  most  dramatic  features  of 
that  historic  day. 

Several  Northern  democrats  and  Border  State  men  con- 
tributed very  largely  to  the  strength  of  the  campaign  for 
votes  by  their  masterly  eloquence  in  support  of  the  amend- 
ment. Other  Border  State  men  and  Northern  democrats  who 
had  opposed  the  measure  in  June  were  not  less  influential  in 
favor  of  the  amendment,  although  not  so  prominent  in  dis- 
cussions. 

Fortunately  there  was  no  corruption  fund  to  be  used  in 
opposing  the  measure.  The  South  was  a  financial  wreck; 
the  Rebellion  was  in  its  last  stage,  and  partisan  interests  were 
the  only  influences  left  to  give  zest  to  the  discussion  or 
strength  to  their  activities  against  the  amendment.  Many 
members  who  were  aligned  against  the  measure  earnestly 
desired  its  passage,  although  lacking  the  courage  openly  to 
support  it.  Others  who  personally  favored  it  were  absent  or 
silent  when  the  vote  was  taken  and  the  certainty  of  the  early 
doom  of  slavery,  with  the  expected  early  collapse  of  the  Re- 
bellion, prevented  filibustering  as  the  last  maneuver  against  a 
favorable  vote.  Another  influence  against  filibustering  tactics 
was  the  opposition's  confidence  in  the  defeat  of  the  amend- 
ment which  was  unquestioning  at  the  beginning  of  the  ses- 
sion, the  day  the  vote  was  taken  and  was  not  seriously  dis- 
turbed until  the  final  result  was  announced. 

There  was  tremendous  force  in  the  debate  from  the  6th 
of  January,  when  the  motion  to  reconsider  was  called  up, 
until  the  final  vote  was  taken  on  the  3ist  of  that  month.  I 
was  present  on  the  floor  of  the  House  during  all  of  that 
discussion  and  noted  with  profound  interest  the  spirit  that 
prevailed  and  the  arguments  presented  on  both  sides,  together 
with  scenes  of  special  interest  and  significance. 

A  seriously  disturbing  rumor,  put  in  circulation  by  the 
opponents  of  the  amendment  during  the  forenoon  of  the  day 
the  vote  was  taken,  was  effectively  suppressed  by  the  follow- 


CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  265 

ing  correspondence  between  the  President  and  the  member 
having  the  amendment  in  charge:* 

"House  of  Representatives,  January  31,  1865. 
Dear  Sir: 

The  report  is  in  circulation  in  the  House  that  Peace  Com- 
missioners are  on  their  way  or  in  the  city,  and  (it)  is  being 
used  against  us.  If  it  is  true,  I  fear  we  shall  lose  the  bill. 
Please  authorize  me  to  contradict  it,  if  it  is  not  true. 

Respectfully, 

J.  M.  ASHLEY. 
To  the  President." 

ENDORSEMENT. 

"So  far  as  I  know  there  are  no  Peace  Commissioners  in 
the  city  or  likely  to  be  in  it. 

January  31,  1865.  A.  LINCOLN."' 

It  required  great  skill  and  energy  to  contradict  the  harmful 
rumor  after  the  President's  reply  was  received,  but  it  was 
successfully  accomplished  without  distracting  attention  from 
the  great  question  before  the  House.  The  discussion  during 
all  the  time  the  measure  was  before  the  House  was  conducted 
with  commendable  courtesy,  and  to  guard  against  a  possible 

*At  the  time  this  exchange  of  messages  occurred  Messrs.  Stephens, 
Hunter  and  Campbell,  Confederate  Commissioners  appointed  by  Jefferson 
Davis,  were  on  their  way  north  from  Richmond,  and  apart  from  President 
Lincoln  and  Secretaries  Seward  and  Stanton,  no  loyal  person  in  Wash- 
ington knew  of  their  coming.  Somehow  the  Confederate  sympathizers 
at  Washington  were  informed  of  their  appointment  by  Davis  and  their 
start  for  the  north,  and  just  as  the  forces  in  the  House  were  closing 
in  for  a  final  struggle  on  the  antislavery  amendment,  the  rumor  men- 
tioned by  General  Ashley  in  his  letter  to  the  President  was  put  in  circu- 
lation by  persons  who  were  opposed  to  the  amendment.  Those  Con- 
federate Commissioners  supposed  they  were  coming  to  the  Capital  city 
and  so  did  their  friends  at  Washington,  but  they  were  stopped  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  where  President  Lincoln  met  them  on  the  3rd  of  February 
for  the  famous  Hampton  Roads  Conference,  all  of  which  shows  how 
close  the  Confederate  leaders  kept  in  touch  with  their  friends  in  the 
north. 

6  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  349. 


266    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

filibustering  movement,  the  last  hour  of  the  time  for  debate 
was  occupied  by  members  in  brief  explanation  of  their  votes. 
This,  though  not  pleasing  to  some  radical  friends  of  the 
amendment,  who  were  impatient  to  have  the  vote  taken,  was 
wise  parliamentary  strategy  and  was  effective  in  preventing 
all  dilatory  proceedings.  As  the  debate  was  closed  and  the 
members  settled  down  to  the  roll-call  some  of  the  strong  advo- 
cates of  the  measure  nervously  and  in  subdued  tones  said: 
"It  is  the  toss  of  a  copper,"  but  General  Ashley,  knowing  more 
than  he  had  disclosed  concerning  the  purposes  of  some  mem- 
bers, maintained  that  on  the  final  vote  the  majority  for  the 
amendment  would  be  from  four  to  seven  more  than  was 
required  for  its  passage. 

The  scene  was  one  of  imposing  grandeur.  All  available 
space  on  the  floor  and  in  the  galleries  was  occupied.  Members 
of  the  Supreme  Court  and  of  the  Senate,  with  many  distin- 
guished people,  were  in  attendance,  and  the  diplomatic  gallery 
was  brilliant  with  the  colors  worn  by  representatives  from 
foreign  nations. 

The  great  chamber  was  filled  with  the  atmosphere  of 
intense  purpose  and  all  seemed  to  realize  that  the  most 
momentous  issue  of  the  nation's  history  was  about  to  be 
decided. 

There  were  two  motions  and  two  roll-calls  before  the 
motion  to  pass  the  amendment  was  reached.  The  first  was 
a  motion  to  lay  on  the  table  the  motion  to  reconsider  the  vote 
of  June  1 5th.  The  vote  against  this  motion,  while  sufficient 
to  defeat  it,  was  two  less  than  the  necessary  two-thirds  re- 
quired to  pass  the  amendment,  and  in  the  deep  silence  that 
prevailed  Thaddeus  Stevens  and  Elihu  B.  Washburne,  two 
distinguished  members  of  the  House,  were  heard  to  say  with 
solemnity,  "General,  we  are  defeated !"  But  in  a  ringing  and 
inspiring  voice  that  was  heard  in  all  the  chamber  and  also 
in  the  galleries,  General  Ashley  promptly  replied:  "No,  gen- 
tlemen, we  are  not!" 

Then  came  the  motion  made  by  General  Ashley  to  recon- 


CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  267 

sider  the  vote  of  June  I5th  when  the  amendment  was  de- 
feated and  which  was  called  up  by  him  on  the  6th  of  January. 
This  was  known  to  be  more  nearly  a  test  vote  than  was  the 
one  to  lay  on  the  table,  and  many  threw  down  their  tally 
sheets  and  pencils,  utterly  discouraged,  when  it  was  seen  that 
the  vote  to  reconsider  lacked  one  of  the  two-thirds.  But 
the  motion  to  reconsider  required  only  a  majority  and  was 
carried,  bringing  the  House  to  the  original  motion  which 
failed  in  June  to  submit  to  the  states  the  constitutional  amend- 
ment abolishing  and  forever  prohibiting  slavery. 

It  now  became  difficult  to  proceed,  as  all  realized  that  the 
knife  was  at  the  throat  of  slavery  and  that  only  one  additional 
vote  was  required  to  accomplish  its  execution.  There  was  a 
tear  in  the  tone  of  the  clerk  as  he  proceeded  with  the  final 
roll-call.  Not  a  sound  was  heard  as  the  vote  was  being  taken 
save  the  voice  of  the  clerk,  and  each  member's  aye  or  no  as 
his  name  was  called.  The  affirmative  votes  were  given  with 
far  greater  volume  of  voice  than  were  those  in  the  negative. 
Special  emphasis  was  laid  on  the  aye  by  some  lifelong  anti- 
slavery  members,  and  a  very  few  democrats  responded  with 
a  no  that  had  an  undertone  of  bitterness.  There  was  a  sound 
of  painful  regret  in  some  of  the  negative  votes  and  in  others 
there  was  a  seeming  apology  and  plea  for  pardon.  Those 
members  who  for  the  first  time  then  voted  against  slavery  did 
so  with  that  apparent  delight  which  is  experienced  by  those 
who  escape  from  galling  bondage. 

These  are  not  mere  gleanings  from  contemporary  docu- 
ments. They  are  the  impressions  of  an  eye-witness  whose  soul 
was  in  his  eyes  as  he  witnessed  those  proceedings  and  made 
note  of  them  for  publication.  But  to  proceed,  the  name  of 
Governor  English  of  Connecticut  was  reached  early  in  the 
roll-call  and  his  vote  for  the  amendment,  given  with  a  strong, 
full  voice,  was  greeted  with  hearty  approval,  as  were  the 
affirmative  votes  of  other  stalwart  democrats.  Especially 
enthusiastic  were  the  greetings  accorded  the  votes  of  those 
members  whose  purposes  to  support  the  amendment  were  not 


268    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

known  to  the  public  until  their  names  were  reached  in  the 
final  roll-call  on  that  day. 

When  the  member  whose  name  was  last  on  the  roll  had 
voted,  the  name  of  Speaker  Coif  ax  was  called  at  his  request, 
and  his  vote  in  the  affirmative  was  greeted  with  generous  ap- 
plause, after  which  he  arose  and  said:  "The  constitutional 
majority  of  two-thirds  having  voted  in  the  affirmative  the 
Joint  Resolution  is  passed."  Pencils  and  tally  sheets  had  been 
so  largely  laid  aside  during  this  last  vote,  and  both  the  friends 
and  opponents  of  the  measure  were  so  fully  convinced  that  it 
would  be  defeated  that  quite  a  period  of  silence  and  of  seem- 
ing bewilderment  elapsed  before  the  audience  realized  that  the 
amendment  had  been  passed.  There  was  then  a  scene  such 
as  had  never  before  occurred  in  the  House,  and  such  as  has 
seldom  been  witnessed  in  any  great  legislative  body.  An 
account  of  the  event  which  I  wrote  for  publication  on  the 
3ist  of  January,  immediately  after  the  vote  was  taken,  is  now 
before  me,  and  is  as  follows: 

"The  House  has  just  passed  the  Constitutional  Amend- 
ment forever  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  United  States  by  a 
vote  of  119  yeas  to  56  noes — an  excess  of  seven  over  the 
requisite  two-thirds  majority.  A  tremendous  burst  of  applause 
both  upon  the  floor  and  in  the  galleries  greeted  the  announce- 
ment of  the  result.  The  Speaker  demanded  order  and  rapped 
loudly  upon  his  desk,  but  joy  beamed  in  his  eye  and  the 
delighted  expression  of  his  countenance  added  fuel  to  the 
flames  of  enthusiasm  which  he  could  not  suppress.  None 
appeared  in  such  an  ecstasy  of  delight  as  the  boys  in  blue, 
who  were  in  attendance  in  large  numbers.  The  opponents 
of  the  measure,  as  if  terrified  by  these  joyous  demonstrations, 
seemed  to  shrink  from  the  scrutiny  of  the  delighted  heroes  in 
army  uniform  as  frost-bitten  plants  wilt  in  the  genial  sunshine 
of  the  king  of  day. 

"Of  the  three  epochs  in  the  history  of  our  country,  the 
landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  the  signing  of  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, and  the  adoption  of  this  antislavery  amendment, 


CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  269 

the  latter  in  its  importance  is  not  the  least.  The  prominent 
actors  in  the  two  former  scenes  are  held  in  affectionate  re- 
membrance. Those  of  the  latter  are  not  less  worthy.  It  is 
a  source  of  just  pride  to  every  true  American  that  not  one 
of  the  immortals  who  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
ever  by  word  or  deed  dimmed  the  luster  of  the  halo  which 
encircles  his  name.  May  the  future  record  of  those  who 
voted  for  this  amendment  be  equally  bright  and  lustrous." 

This  newspaper  report,  hastily  written  more  than  half  a 
century  ago,  in  the  excitement  and  confusion  of  that  great 
civic  triumph,  is  moderate  in  its  reference  to  the  demonstra- 
tions which  were  led  by  distinguished  members  of  Congress, 
many  of  whom  standing  upon  their  desks,  cheered  and 
shouted  with  wild  delight  like  college  boys  at  a  crisis  in  an 
athletic  struggle.  Cabinet  ministers,  Supreme  Court  Justices, 
and  members  of  the  senate  joined  heartily  in  the  demonstra- 
tions of  approval,  in  which  many  women  of  distinction  fittingly 
participated.  When  that  patriotic  tumult  in  the  House  was 
at  its  height  there  was  heard  the  boom  of  cannon  proclaiming 
to  the  greater  multitude  the  unspeakable  achievement  for  the 
nation  and  for  humanity. 

In  the  excitement  that  prevailed  the  able  and  skillful  leader 
of  this  movement  was  not  forgotten,  but  General  Ashley 
could  not  be  found  to  receive  the  ovation  which  members  of 
the  House  and  friends  of  the  measure  sought  to  bestow  upon 
him,  for  immediately  after  the  vote  was  taken  he  called  a 
carriage  and  was  the  first  to  delight  the  heart  of  President 
Lincoln  by  announcing  to  him  the  great  news  and  extending 
hearty  congratulations  upon  the  complete  triumph  of  emanci- 
pation. 

It  will  prove  both  interesting  and  instructive  carefully  to 
analyze  the  vote  by  which  this  important  provision  was  made 
a  part  of  the  National  Constitution.  At  the  final  vote  on  the 
3ist  of  January,  1865,  when  the  amendment  passed  the  House, 
every  republican  member  of  that  body  voted  for  it.  Had 
every  northern  democratic  member  and  every  member  from 


270    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  Border  States  voted  against  it  the  measure  would  have 
been  defeated  by  65  votes.  It  was  an  omni-partisan  victory. 
To  the  solid  republican  vote  there  was  added  the  votes  of  17 
northern  democrats — 8  from  New  York,  5  from  Ohio,  2 
from  Pennsylvania,  i  from  Connecticut,  and  i  from  Michigan. 
To  these  were  added  19  votes  by  members  from  the  Border 
States — 7  from  Missouri,  4  from  Kentucky,  4  from  Maryland, 
3  from  West  Virginia,  and  i  from  Delaware.  Four  northern 
democrats  who  voted  for  the  amendment  on  the  I5th  of  June 
continued  loyal  to  that  record  and  were  joined  by  13  other 
northern  democrats. 

As  stated  upon  a  preceding  page,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
campaign  for  votes  there  was  prepared  by  General  Ashley 
a  list  of  the  names  of  members  whose  votes  for  the  amend- 
ment it  was  thought  possible  by  earnest  efforts  to  secure.  Of 
the  36  members  thus  selected,  24  voted  for  the  measure,  2  were 
absent,  and  only  10  voted  against  it. 

Judge  Yeaman  was  not  in  error  when  in  his  letter  of 
December  29th,  hereinbefore  set  forth,  he  expressed  his  ap- 
prehension that  his  support  of  the  amendment  would  cost 
him  his  political  head  in  his  district,  for  he  never  again  held 
an  elective  office.  And  each  one  of  the  24  northern  democrats 
and  Border  State  men  who  voted  for  the  amendment  was  at 
that  time  the  representative  in  Congress  of  a  democratic  dis- 
trict, as  was  the  case  with  Judge  Yeaman,  and  for  that  great- 
est act  of  his  life  he  incurred  the  severe  and  permanent  dis- 
pleasure of  his  constituents.  Not  one  of  their  number  escaped. 
Not  one  ever  afterwards  held  an  elective  office,  and  their 
punishment,  though  severe  and  cruel,  was  not  unexpected, 
for  in  all  our  efforts  to  secure  their  votes  for  the  amendment, 
we  frankly  admitted  that  by  supporting  the  measure  they  prob- 
ably would  commit  political  suicide. 

Due  credit  should  be  given  to  thoca  who,  by  able,  well- 
directed  and  persevering  effort  overcame  such  great  difficulties 
and  induced  a  sufficient  number  to  make  such  sacrifices  for  a 
great  cause,  and  undying  honor  should  be  given  to  those  men 


CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  271 

who  were  willing  thus  to  march  to  their  political  graves  in 
the  service  of  their  country  and  of  the  cause  of  human 
freedom. 

And  scarcely  less  honor  is  due  the  eight  northern  demo- 
crats who  were  absent  when  the  vote  was  taken,  of  whom 
Mr.  Elaine  says,  "It  may  be  assumed  that  they  assented  to 
the  amendment,  but  that  they  were  not  prepared  to  give  it 
positive  support."  r 

If  four  of  those  eight  absentees  had  been  present  and  voted 
in  the  negative  it  would  have  prevented  the  passage  of  the 
amendment.  And  to  prevail  upon  them  thus  to  remain  away 
and  refrain  from  voting  was  one  of  the  most  delicate  and 
difficult  of  all  the  tasks  of  that  campaign. 

A  striking  and  amusing  contrast  between  an  opponent 
and  a  supporter  of  the  amendment  was  furnished  by  the 
declarations  of  two  members  of  Congress  while  the  measure 
was  under  consideration.  When  on  the  8th  of  April,  1864, 
the  senate  passed  the  amendment,  Senator  Salisbury  of  Dela- 
ware, a  zealous  champion  of  slavery,  arose  and  with  great 
solemnity  said:  "I  bid  farewell  to  all  hope  for  the  restoration 
of  the  American  Union."  A  few  months  after  this  ludicrous 
utterance  Senator  Salisbury  saw  the  Union  fully  and  perma- 
nently restored. 

While  the  measure  was  under  consideration  in  the  House, 
Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold  of  Illinois,  with  very  impressive  earnest- 
ness said:  "In  view  of  the  long  catalogue  of  wrongs  which 
it  has  inflicted  upon  the  country,  I  demand  today  the  death 
of  American  slavery."  And  Mr.  Arnold  saw  and  participated 
in  the  execution  of  slavery. 

On  the  evening  of  February  ist — the  day  following  the 
passage  of  the  amendment — President  Lincoln  in  response  to 
a  serenade  of  congratulation,  for  the  first  time  after  the  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation  was  issued,  spoke  of  that  measure  as 
insufficient  for  the  destruction  of  slavery.  He  had  always 
been  unequivocal  in  the  declaration  of  his  belief  in  the  va- 
7  Twenty  Years  of  Congress,  Vol.  I.,  p.  538. 


272    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

lidity  of  that  proclamation,  and  he  never  referred  to  its 
limitations  until  this  Constitutional  amendment  was  passed, 
when  in  that  serenade  speech  he  said:  "He  thought  this 
measure  was  a  very  fitting  if  not  an  indispensable  adjunct 
to  the  winding  up  of  the  great  difficulty.  He  wished  the  re- 
union of  all  the  states  perfected,  and  so  effected  as  to  remove 
all  causes  of  disturbance  in  the  future;  and,  to  attain  this 
end,  it  was  necessary  that  the  original  disturbing  cause  should, 
if  possible,  be  rooted  out.  He  thought  all  would  bear  him 
witness  that  he  had  never  shrunk  from  doing  all  that  he 
could  to  eradicate  slavery,  by  issuing  an  Emancipation  Procla- 
mation, But  that  proclamation  falls  short  of  what  the  amend- 
ment will  be  when  fully  consummated.  A  question  might  be 
raised  whether  the  proclamation  was  legally  valid.  It  might 
be  urged  that  it  only  aided  those  that  came  into  our  lines, 
and  that  it  was  inoperative  as  to  those  who  did  not  give  them- 
selves up;  or  that  it  would  have  no  effect  upon  the  children 
of  slaves  born  hereafter;  in  fact,  it  would  be  urged  that  it 
did  not  meet  the  evil.  But  this  amendment  is  a  king's  cure-all 
for  all  evils."  8 

The  ratification  of  the  amendment  by  the  several  states 
was  a  proceeding  of  very  great  interest.  Before  the  measure 
was  for  the  second  time  brought  before  the  House  it  had 
been  taken  up  and  thoroughly  considered  by  the  people 
throughout  the  country  who,  at  the  Presidential  election  in 
November,  pronounced  their  verdict  very  emphatically  in  its 
favor.  So  intense  had  become  the  popular  interest  in  the 
measure  that  immediately  after  it  was  passed  by  Congress 
there  was  lively  competition  among  the  states  for  priority 
of  action  in  its  ratification.  Illinois — the  President's  home 
state — was  the  first  to  take  such  action.  On  the  ist  of  Feb- 
ruary— the  first  day  after  the  amendment  passed  the  House 
and  only  a  few  hours  after  that  event — the  legislature  of  that 
state  voted  for  its  ratification.  Other  states  followed  in  rapid 
succession.  Rhode  Island  and  Michigan  on  February  2nd; 

8  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  353. 


CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENT  273 

Maryland,  New  York  and  West  Virginia  on  the  3rd;  Maine 
and  Kansas  on  the  7th;  Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania  on 
the  8th;  Virginia  on  the  Qth;  Ohio  and  Missouri  on  the  loth; 
Indiana  and  Nevada  on  the  i6th,  and  so  on  until  before  the 
end  of  that  short  month  seventeen  states  had  taken  action 
ratifying  the  amendment.  Before  the  end  of  the  calendar 
year,  on  the  i8th  of  December,  Secretary  Seward,  who  had 
remained  in  the  Cabinet  after  President  Lincoln's  death,  an- 
nounced by  proclamation  that  twenty-seven  states,  being 
three-fourths  of  the  thirty-six  states  in  the  nation,  had  offi- 
cially ratified  the  amendment  which  had  thus  been  made  a 
part  of  the  National  Constitution. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  four  slave  states — Virginia, 
Louisiana,  Tennessee  and  Arkansas — reconstructed  under 
President  Lincoln's  direction  and  by  his  authority,  were  among 
the  twenty-seven  states  constituting  the  three-fourths  neces- 
sary to  accomplish  that  ratification. 

The  Constitutional  Amendment  was  as  oil  upon  troubled 
waters  in  its  influence  upon  the  antislavery  element  of  the 
nation.  There  were  a  few  of  the  extreme  radicals  in  Con- 
gress who  seemed  reluctant  to  forget  that  they  had  a  chronic 
grudge  against  Mr.  Lincoln  because  of  his  cautious  and  con- 
servative movements  against  slavery  and  his  great  kindness 
and  forbearance  toward  those  who  were  in  rebellion,  but, 
although  their  fault-finding  inclinations  remained  with  them, 
they  found  little  of  which  to  complain.  There  was,  however, 
one  exception  of  which  they  promptly  availed  themselves. 
While  the  loyal  states  were  all  jubilant  over  the  passage  of 
the  amendment,  and  the  President's  charming  response  to 
the  serenade  of  congratulations,  without  any  warning  the 
nation  was  startled  on  the  morning  of  February  3rd  by  the 
telegraphic  announcement  that  the  President  was  at  Fortress 
Monroe  to  confer  with  Confederate  commissioners  respecting 
terms  of  peace.  This  gave  the  trouble-makers  their  last  op- 
portunity to  pour  the  vials  of  wrath  upon  President  Lincoln's 
devoted  head. 


274    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

A  better  spirit  was  shown  by  the  extreme  abolitionists, 
who  seemed  anxious  to  forget  that  they  ever  were  out  of 
harmony  with  the  President  and  earnestly  desired  to  atone 
for  their  past  disapproval  of  the  policies  by  which  he  had  led 
them,  and  the  nation,  to  the  great  antislavery  consummation. 

On  the  evening  of  the  4th  of  February,  when  the  Presi- 
dent had  just  returned  from  the  Hampton  Roads  conference, 
before  mentioned,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  the  leader  and  the 
greatest  of  the  radical  abolition  element,  at  a  large  mass  meet- 
ing in  Boston  said:  "And  to  whom  is  the  country  more  imme- 
diately indebted  for  this  vital  and  saving  amendment  of 
the  Constitution  than,  perhaps,  to  any  other  man?  I  believe 
I  may  confidently  answer — to  the  humble  railsplitter  of  Il- 
linois— to  the  Presidential  chain-breaker  for  millions  of  the 
oppressed — to  Abraham  Lincoln!  (Immense  and  long-con- 
tinued applause,  ending  with  three  cheers  for  the  President.) 
I  understand  that  it  was  by  his  wish  and  influence  that  that 
plank  was  made  a  part  of  the  Baltimore  platform ;  and  taking 
his  position  unflinchingly  upon  that  platform,  the  people  have 
overwhelmingly  sustained  both  him  and  it,  in  ushering  in  the 
year  of  jubilee."  9 

It  does  not  detract  from  the  merit  or  value  of  the  efforts 
and  achievements  of  others  in  securing  the  passage  of  this 
Constitutional  Amendment  to  state  that  it  was  Abraham  Lin- 
coln who  wrote  that  Article  into  the  organic  law  of  the  nation. 
By  his  lifelong  and  consistent  opposition  to  slavery,  his  clear, 
logical  exposure  of  its  injustice  and  wrong,  his  courageous 
demand  for  its  restriction  and  "ultimate  extinction,"  his  wise 
and  successful  guidance  of  the  movements  that  preceded  and 
prepared  the  way  for  its  downfall,  his  Proclamation  of  Eman- 
cipation and  his  early  and  hearty  espousal  of  this  Amendment, 
he  is  entitled  to  the  designation  by  which  he  is  known  in  all 
the  world  and  by  which  he  will  evermore  be  remembered — 
The  Emancipator ! 

9  The  Liberator,  February  loth,  1865. 


MEMORIES 

This  fascinating  picture  is  from  a  painting  by  Harry  Roseland,  by  whose 
courtesy  and  that  of  Gerlach-Barklow  Co.,  it  is  here  reproduced. 


PART  II 


"  Whatever  is  remembered  or  whatever  lost,  we 
ought  never  to  forget  that  Abraham  Lincoln,  one  of 
the  mightiest  masters  of  statecraft  that  history  has 
ever  known,  was  also  one  of  the  most  devoted  and 
faithful  servants  of  Almighty  God  who  has  ever  sat 
in  the  high  places  of  the  world." 

.  — HON.  JOHN  HAY. 


PRESIDENT  LINCOLN  DURING  THE  BATTLE  OF  GETTYSBURG 

Fiom  a  painting  by  Brisley  for  Dr.  Ervin  Chapman,  and  now  in  his  collection. 

(See  page  385) 


THIS  book  had  its  inception  at  about  one  o'clock  on  the 
afternoon  of  Saturday,  March  4th,  1865,  during  the 
six  minutes  of  my  absorbing  attention  to  the  delivery 
of  Abraham  Lincoln's  second  inaugural  address.  That  my 
attention  was  absorbing  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  on  the 
following  day  I  was  astonished  to  discover  that  I  could  repeat 
the  address  in  its  entirety  with  almost  verbal  accuracy, 
although  I  had  neither  seen  it  in  print  nor  exchanged  one  word 
with  any  person  concerning  it.  But  during  its  delivery  it 
held  me  so  transfixed  and  entranced  that  each  one  of  its 
seven  hundred  and  two  magic  words  was  imprinted  upon  my 
mind  as  is  a  photographic  picture  upon  a  highly  sensitized 
plate.  Equally  vivid  was  the  picture  of  the  entire  scene  that 
stood  out  before  me,  the  central  heroic  figure  standing  erect, 
with  scarce  a  movement  save  the  handling  of  his  manuscript, 
the  one  unstudied  swaying  of  his  massive  head,  and  the  shift- 
ing of  his  shoulders  as  he  uttered  with  rhythmic  emphasis  and 
distinct  enunciation,  the  sentence  which  is  most  widely  known 
and  most  devoutly  cherished  of  all  his  classic  sayings — "With 
malice  toward  none;  with  charity  for  all." 

To  have  heard  these  words  spoken  by  Abraham  Lincoln 
upon  the  occasion  which  gave  them  their  peculiar  meaning 
was  to  experience  an  ecstatic  wonderment  which  with  recur- 
rent movement  ever  since  has  filled  my  soul  as  they  have  been 
brought  to  recollection.  Under  the  inspiration  of  that  memo- 
rable inauguration  and  the  wonderful  inaugral  address  there 
took  possession  of  my  being  a  high  purpose  to  give  the  world 
in  abiding  form,  a  record  of  the  scenes  I  was  witnessing, 

277 


278    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

and  an  account  of  some  of  the  distinctive  features  of  the  life 
which  at  that  time  reached  the  zenith  of  early  glory.  That 
purpose  for  more  than  half  a  century  has  held  its  place,  and 
now  finds  fruition  in  this  volume  which  I  hope  may  contribute 
to  a  better  understanding  of  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
instructive  characters  in  modern  history. 

The  inauguration  ceremonies  were  conducted  upon  a  very 
large  temporary  platform  constructed  at  the  east  front  of 
the  Capitol  building,  covering  and  extending  far  out  beyond 
the  broad  marble  stairs  which  lead  up  to  the  eastern  entrance 
of  the  rotunda — the  great  circular  room  beneath  the  Capitol 
Dome.  This  platform  was  so  inclined  as  to  be  fully  exposed 
to  view  from  every  part  of  the  east-front  Capitol  grounds, 
and  was  provided  with  seats  for  a  large  number  of  specially 
favored  guests.  The  city  was  thronged  with  people  from  all 
parts  of  the  country,  each  one  intent  upon  witnessing  the 
ceremonies  to  the  best  possible  advantage.  Being  employed 
in  the  Capitol  building  I  had  excellent  opportunities  while 
the  platform  was  being  built  to  select  the  most  desirable  place 
for  witnessing  the  inauguration  ceremonies  and  hearing  the 
inaugural  address.  My  choice  was  made  with  deliberation 
and  without  difficulty,  but  to  secure  and  hold  the  chosen  posi- 
tion was  not  so  easy.  It  was  my  first  opportunity  to  attend 
a  Presidential  inauguration  and  I  was  determined  to  make 
the  most  of  it.  Therefore,  in  the  drenching  rain  of  that 
cold  March  morning,  a  few  minutes  before  seven  o'clock,  I 
took  my  station  about  twenty  feet  from  the  platform  and 
directly  in  front  of  where  I  knew  the  President  would  stand 
while  delivering  his  address  and  receiving  the  oath  of  office. 
For  more  than  an  hour  I  was  the  only  occupant  of  the  space 
upon  which  before  noon,  according  to  estimates  at  the  time, 
fifty  thousand  men  and  women  were  shivering  in  the  drenching 
rain,  and  either  crowding  to  gain  better  positions  or  stub- 
bornly holding  those  they  had  secured. 

The  scene  was  so  inspiring  and  my  anticipations  were  so 
vivid  that  I  did  not  experience  the  least  discomfort  during 


REMINISCENCES  OF  SECOND  INAUGURATION  279 

the  five  hours  of  exposure  to  the  cold  precipitation  which 
continued  until  twelve  o'clock,  and  was  followed  by  an  hour 
of  constant  indications  of  further  rain. 

At  noon,  however,  the  storm  ceased,  and  within  thirty 
minutes  the  seats  provided  on  the  platform  for  invited  guests 
were  all  occupied  save  those  of  the  front  section,  which  were 
reserved  for  the  Presidential  party  and  for  invited  guests 
who  were  attending  the  closing  sessions  of  the  two  Houses 
of  Congress,  and  witnessing  the  opening  of  the  special  ses- 
sion of  the  Senate  called  by  the  President.  I  was  standing 
where  I  could  see  each  one  who  came  upon  the  platform,  and 
I  recognized  among  the  number  many  of  the  nation's  most 
distinguished  citizens.  While  the  multitude  was  gathering 
upon  the  platform  and  on  the  grounds,  many  famous  bands 
contributed  patriotic  music,  but  the  rain  prevented  the  free 
and  effective  use  of  the  fife  and  drum,  at  that  time  so  essential 
to  the  fitting  inspiration  of  such  an  assembly;  and  the  sense 
of  that  lack  lingered  in  the  memory  as  an  undefined  yet  real 
defect. 

At  twelve  o'clock  noon  on  that  4th  of  March,  the  thirty- 
eighth  Congress  of  the  United  States  ceased  to  exist  and  the 
strife  and  struggle  of  its  closing  activities  were  in  tumultuous 
progress  while  the  crowds  were  gathering  outside  to  witness 
the  inauguration.  In  the  President's  room  near  the  senate 
chamber  Mr.  Lincoln  was  signing  bills  which  had  passed  the 
two  Houses  of  Congress  and,  immediately  following  the  ad- 
journment of  Congress,  the  special  session  of  the  senate  con- 
vened, and  Andrew  Johnson  was  inaugurated  as  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States  and  President  of  the  Senate. 
President  Lincoln  was  in  attendance  upon  these  ceremonies 
and  accompanied  by  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
immediately  thereafter  led  the  procession  which  passing  out 
of  the  south  door  of  the  senate  chamber  proceeded  through 
the  long  corridor  to  the  great  rotunda,  and  then  turned  east 
to  the  wide  doorway  opening  out  upon  the  inauguration 
platform. 


280    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

It  was  nearly  one  o'clock  when,  from  where  I  stood,  there 
was  seen  a  peculiar  movement  among  the  guards  standing 
just  outside  those  wide  doors  and  between  the  magnificent 
Corinthian  pillars  of  the  Capitol.  This  indicated  that  the 
Presidential  party  was  approaching,  and  in  an  instant  the 
tumult  was  hushed  to  profound  silence,  and  one  could  feel 
the  waves  of  patriotic  enthusiasm  and  devotion  that  swept 
over  that  immense  assembly. 

All  eyes  were  turned  to  where  the  stalwart  figures  of  the 
President  and  Chief  Justice  Chase  were  seen  emerging  through 
the  wide  door  of  the  rotunda  and  advancing  out  upon  the 
upper  landing  of  the  broad  marble  stairway  and  down  the 
steps  to  the  seats  assigned  them  at  the  front  and  center  of 
the  great  temporary  platform.  They  were  followed  by  the 
Justices  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  clothed  in  their 
long  black  official  robes;  members  of  the  Cabinet  and  of 
both  Houses  of  Congress;  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps, 
each  in  the  court  costume  of  his  country,  and  a  large  number 
of  army  and  navy  officers  in  brilliant  uniform,  together  with 
many  distinguished  persons  from  all  parts  of  the  land. 

The  new  Vice-President,  Andrew  Johnson,  with  Senator 
James  R.  Doolittle  of  Wisconsin,  who  accompanied  him,  were 
in  the  procession  and  were  assigned  seats  at  the  front  of  the 
platform  on  the  right  of  the  President  and  the  Chief  Justice. 

During  all  the  morning  and  up  to  the  time  the  Presidential 
party  appeared  there  had  not  been  a  ray  of  sunshine,  but 
just  as  President  Lincoln  stepped  from  beneath  the  shelter 
of  the  Capitol  building,  in  front  of  the  great  eastern  colon- 
nade and  out  upon  the  platform,  there  was  suddenly  a  wide 
opening  in  the  thick  black  clouds  above  us,  and  the  bright, 
glorious  sunshine  illuminated  all  the  scene  with  ineffable 
splendor  and  beauty.  The  melancholy  features  of  the  Presi- 
dent instantly  became  radiant  with  the  joy  we  have  since 
learned  was  awakened  in  his  heart  by  the  good  omen  from 
above;  and  the  great  waiting  throng  inspired  by  his  coming 
and  gladdened  by  that  omen,  greeted  the  sunburst  with  re- 


CHIEF  JUSTICE   SALMON   PORTLAND   CHASE 

who,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1865,  administered  the  oath  of  office  to  President 

Abraham  Lincoln. 


REMINISCENCES  OF  SECOND  INAUGURATION  281 

ligious  and  patriotic  fervor  and  enthusiasm.  On  the  next 
day  in  greeting  an  esteemed  caller,  the  President  said:  "Was 
not  that  burst  of  sunshine  glorious  ?  It  made  my  heart  jump." 

The  entrance  of  that  large  company  of  distinguished 
people  and  their  distribution  on  the  platform  was  a  thrillingly 
imposing  pageant.  If  they  had  gathered  from  different  points 
and  at  intervals  as  the  multitude  had  assembled  upon  the  cam- 
pus the  spectacle  would  have  been  less  graphic.  But  they  all 
came  pouring  out  at  the  same  point  and  advanced  with  steady 
movement  down  to  their  respective  stations.  It  seemed  that 
the  great  rotunda  from  which  they  came  was  an  arena  in 
which  the  stalwart  champions  of  human  interests  had  been 
engaged  in  furious  and  successful  combat  with  their  enemies 
and  from  which  they  were  marching  out  to  receive  the  plaudits 
of  the  people. 

In  the  personnel  of  its  participants  that  pageant  was  never 
equalled  in  our  nation's  history.  At  other  times  there  have 
been  greater  numbers  in  the  procession,  but  on  no  other  occa- 
sion has  there  been  such  a  moving  company  of  men  and 
women  of  such  high  and  heroic  mold.  The  long  struggles 
against  slavery  and  the  four  years  of  war  had  engaged  the 
efforts  of  people  of  the  highest  type  who,  by  their  warfare 
on  behalf  of  freedom  and  human  rights,  had  been  developed 
to  heroic  measurements.  No  other  administration  and  no 
Congress  in  our  history  contained  so  large  a  percentage  of 
members  of  extraordinary  character  and  talent  as  the  nation 
had  at  that  time.  And  they  looked  the  part,  never  appearing 
to  better  advantage  than  when  moving  in  that  picturesque 
procession  or  massed  upon  that  platform. 

It  was  peculiarly  fitting  that  that  advancing  column  should 
be  headed  by  the  two  men  most  fully  typical  of  the  two 
classes  of  high-grade  American  citizenship.  The  Chief  Jus- 
tice was  at  that  time  without  a  peer  as  a  type  of  the  best 
results  of  careful  and  wise  breeding  and  thorough  educational 
development  and  training.  Descended  from  long  lines  of  able 
and  distinguished  ancestors  he  was  early  recognized  as  worthy 


282    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

of  his  lineage  and  was  put  in  training  for  high  distinction. 
In  personal  appearance  and  bearing  he  was  majestic,  tall, 
well  formed,  with  massive  head,  and  features  indicative  of 
great  intellectual  endowments  and  force  of  character.  He 
was  a  finished  product  of  the  best  New  England  stock  and 
was  generally  regarded  as  unexcelled  in  the  qualities  thus 
produced. 

But  he  was  outclassed  by  the  man  who  marched  beside 
him  in  that  inaugural  procession.  Chase  was  great,  Lincoln 
was  peerless.  Chase  was  erect  and  dignified ;  Lincoln  towered 
above  him,  too  great  for  any  touch  of  self-conscious  man- 
nerism. The  features  of  Chase  were  like  carved  and  polished 
marble;  those  of  Lincoln  were  like  deeply  chiselled  granite, 
roughened  by  the  storm  and  tempest.  Chase  marched  with 
precise  and  measured  tread.  Lincoln  stepped  along  the  way 
like  a  trained  athlete  whose  well  developed  and  supple  muscles 
are  like  those  of  the  graceful  monarch  of  the  jungle.  In  the 
appearance  and  movements  of  Chase  his  high  class  and  cul- 
tured ancestry  reappeared;  Lincoln's  giant  frame  and  mag- 
netic personality  were  the  embodiment  of  an  elect  company 
of  forebears  developed,  cultured  and  trained  in  the  struggles 
of  early  frontier  life,  and  in  the  spell  which  his  presence 
cast  upon  all  who  saw  him  were  revealed  potentialities  which 
were  more  than  human.  There  were  counterparts  of  Chase 
in  some  of  the  distinguished  men  upon  the  platform,  and 
here  and  there  were  men  who  resembled  Lincoln, 

"Men  of  mould, 
Well   embodied,   well   ensouled," 

as  Emerson  aptly  says. 

From  the  moment  he  appeared  leading  that  procession, 
my  whole  being  was  engaged  in  the  study  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln. After  he  was  seated,  and  while  the  members  of  the 
Presidential  party  were  being  assigned  their  stations,  my 
opportunities  to  study  the  great  leader  were  better  than  I 
had  before  enjoyed.  He  was  sitting  only  a  few  feet  from 


REMINISCENCES  OF  SECOND  INAUGURATION  283 

the  place  where  I  was  standing  with  his  face  turned  in  that 
direction,  his  uncovered  head  and  rugged  features  illuminated 
by  the  bright  and  benignant  sunshine.  He  appeared  perfectly 
at  ease,  giving  no  heed  to  what  was  before  or  around  him, 
and  without  the  least  indication  of  nervous  tension  or  agita- 
tion. His  head  was  not  wholly  erect  as  during  the  years  of 
his  titanic  struggles  in  Illinois,  but  was  slightly  bowed  as  in 
meditation,  and  his  massive  shoulders  were  bent  as  with  a 
great  burden,  giving  the  appearance  of  great  strength  and 
power  of  endurance.  His  eyes  had  a  far-away,  dreamy  look, 
and  there  was  not  the  slightest  movement  of  the  hand,  head 
or  features  from  the  time  he  took  his  seat  until  he  arose  to 
speak.  The  great  multitude  was  in  a  tumult  of  enthusiasm, 
but  he  seemed  unconscious  of  their  display  of  admiration 
and  loyalty,  being  intent  on  matters  of  great  magnitude  and 
moment.  During  the  six  years  immediately  preceding  that 
inauguration  I  had  given  much  attention  to  the  study  of 
Abraham  Lincoln.  I  had  seen  him  upon  other  important 
occasions  and  had  been  with  him  until  I  thought  I  had  formed 
an  approximately  accurate  estimate  of  his  dimensions,  but 
never  until  I  stood  before  him  on  that  memorable  4th  of 
March  did  I  realize  the  immense  power  of  his  personality 
and  his  measureless  reserve  force. 

His  silence  was  eloquent ;  his  meditation  audible ;  his  tran- 
quillity dynamic;  his  repose  instinct  with  action,  and  his 
solemn  melancholy  sparkled  with  humor  and  good  cheer. 
From  his  tremendous  personality  there  flowed  currents  of 
mystic  power  that  were  resistless  in  their  influence  upon  the 
convictions  and  purposes  of  those  about  him.  My  sensitive 
nature  responded  to  those  waves  of  magnetic  force  while 
in  rapturous  bewilderment  I  sought  to  discover  the  secret 
of  his  greatness,  and  I  was  unconsciously  lifted  to  a  higher 
level  of  purpose  by  a  silent  influence  which  I  felt  but  could 
not  understand.  Never  after  those  moments  of  apocalyptic 
vision  was  I  the  same  as  I  had  been  before.  The  time  was 
too  brief  for  further  reflections,  for  soon  all  were  seated, 


284    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

and  without  a  signal  or  word  of  introduction  Mr.  Lincoln 
arose  and  advanced  close  to  the  railing,  as  near  as  possible 
to  the  great  throng  before  him,  with  his  right  hand  touching 
the  table  by  his  side  and  his  left  hand  holding  his  manuscript. 
Thus  he  stood  in  silence  while  cheers  and  shouts  seemed  to 
rend  the  heavens  with  their  volume  and  intensity.  I  had 
been  in  vast  arid  enthusiastic  gatherings  before  that  day,  but 
never  had  I  heard  anything  so  suggestive  of  the  expression, 
"a  sound  like  the  voice  of  many  waters,"  as  were  the  salvos 
of  applause  that  greeted  President  Lincoln  as  he  stood  before 
that  throng. 

There  were  thousands  in  that  cheering  crowd  whose  chief 
desire  was  not  so  much  to  witness  the  inaugural  pageantry 
as  to  see  and  hear  the  President,  and  to  express  their  patriotic 
loyalty  by  their  presence  and  their  enthusiastic  demonstra- 
tions. They  could  see  their  hero  who  stood  in  plain  view  of 
each  one,  with  his  great  wealth  of  coal  black  hair  and  long 
black  coat  forming  a  becoming  framework  for  his  strong, 
swarthy  face,  but  many  of  them  were  late  in  coming,  and 
unfortunately  were  compelled  to  take  positions  so  far  from 
the  platform  that  they  had  no  expectation  of  being  able  to 
hear  a  word  of  the  inaugural  address.  Therefore,  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  deafening  applause  was  not  as  objectionable 
to  them  as  it  was  to  those  of  us  who  had  secured  positions 
near  the  platform. 

There  was  no  signal  for  silence  from  the  President,  no 
lifting  of  the  hand  or  other  movement,  but  an  invisible  influ- 
ence from  the  silent  and  fixed  figure  before  them  soon  hushed 
the  multitude  to  a  profound  silence  which  became  oppressive 
while  the  President  delayed  the  beginning  of  his  address. 
Then  the  first  two  words  he  uttered  flew  like  a  flaming  dart 
out  over  the  astonished  people.  What  he  said  was  startling 
because  it  was  unique  and  utterly  unexpected.  Those  first 
two  words  thrilled  me  through  and  through  like  recurrent 
waves  of  electricity,  and  upon  others  also,  as  I  have  learned, 
their  influence  was  the  same.  In  his  first  inaugural  address, 


REMINISCENCES  OF  SECOND  INAUGURATION  285 

Mr.  Lincoln  began  with  the  customary  words,  "Fellow  Citi- 
zens" ;  but  the  long  and  bloody  struggle  of  the  war  had  caused 
the  people  to  become  more  to  the  great-hearted  chieftain 
than  is  signified  by  those  almost  hackneyed  words,  therefore, 
in  this  the  greatest  of  all  his  state  papers  and  addresses,  by 
divine  inspiration,  as  I  believe,  Mr.  Lincoln  revealed  the 
strength  and  tenderness  of  his  affection  for  the  people  by 
saying,  "Fellow  Countrymen!" 

But  far  more  thrilling  than  the  words  themselves  was  the 
remarkable  manner  in  which  they  were  spoken.  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  probably  the  only  man  then  in  public  life  who 
would  have  uttered  those  words  in  such  a  fashion.  Any 
other  man  in  all  probability  would  have  begun  his  address 
in  tones  heard  by  only  a  limited  number  of  that  great  com- 
pany, and  would  have  increased  the  volume  of  his  voice  as 
he  proceeded;  and  it  is  not  likely  that  more  than  one-third 
of  that  large  number  of  eager  listeners  would  have  been  able 
distinctly  to  hear  one  word  of  his  address.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  not  like  the  minister  who,  when  asked  how  he  prepared 
his  sermons,  replied,  "I  regard  my  sermons  as  a  work  of 
art,  and  I  prepare  and  deliver  them  accordingly" ;  but  was 
rather  like  another  minister,  who  answered  the  same  question 
by  saying:  "I  regard  my  sermons  as  I  do  my  fishing  tackle, 
and  I  think  only  of  the  fish  I  hope  to  catch." 

Always  ardently  in  love  with  the  people,  Mr.  Lincoln 
earnestly  endeavored  to  have  every  word  of  his  address  heard 
by  all  who  were  present.  His  long  experience  upon  the  stump 
had  taught  him  that  the  man  whom  it  was  most  important 
for  him  to  reach  and  influence — the  man  not  fully  in  sympathy 
with  him — was  the  one  sitting  or  standing  farthest  back  in 
the  audience.  He  had  also  learned  that  the  words  distinctly 
heard  and  understood  by  that  man  would  certainly  be  heard 
by  all  others  in  the  audience.  Other  public  speakers  also 
knew  this,  but  Mr.  Lincoln  acted  upon  it;  therefore,  in  de- 
livering his  inaugural  address,  after  a  very  impressive  pause, 
he  thrilled  and  delighted  every  one  by  uttering  those  two 


286    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

introductory  words  in  a  voice  so  strong  and  clear  as  to  be 
distinctly  heard  by  those  who  were  most  distant  from  him. 
Instantly,  hundreds  of  voices  from  all  parts  of  the  most  dis- 
tant sections  of  that  enormous  throng  responded  by  shout- 
ing, "Good,  good!"  in  tones  expressive  of  their  surprise  and 
joy  at  being  able  to  hear  those  words  so  plainly.  "Good," 
indeed  it  was!  No  other  word  could  so  well  express  their 
joy,  and  that  monosyllable  was  quite  sufficient.  It  told  the 
story  of  their  delight  at  being  rewarded  for  their  long  and 
expensive  journeys  to  Washington  by  being  able  to  hear  the 
inaugural  address  as  delivered  by  the  man  whom  they  held  in 
highest  admiration  and  affection. 

The  President  seemed  equally  surprised  by  the  prompt 
and  hearty  response  to  his  salutation,  as  the  people  had  been 
by  his  words  and  manner,  and  he  stood  in  silence  for  a 
moment  before  continuing  his  address.  Then  upon  the  same 
high  key,  with  voice  as  clear  as  the  tones  of  a  silver  trumpet, 
he  proceeded  deliberately  to  declare  his  great  message  to 
mankind.  There  was  not  the  least  display  of  special  effort 
to  be  heard,  though  not  a  word  of  that  address  failed  to  reach 
every  one  of  that  listening  assembly.  I  was  then  a  young  man 
with  high  ambition  to  become,  if  possible,  an  effective  public 
speaker.  For  that  I  had  by  the  aid  of  books  and  schools 
made  careful  and  thorough  preparation  and  I  had  heard  the 
master  orators  of  the  day.  But  my  best  instruction  in  the 
art  of  public  discourse  was  received  during  the  six  minutes 
occupied  by  the  delivery  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  second  inau- 
gural address.  There  was  no  effort  at  oratorical  display, 
no  endeavor  to  be  impressive,  not  the  slightest  mannerism  of 
any  kind  whatsoever.  Mr.  Lincoln  seemed  to  have  no  thought 
of  his  address  as  "a  work  of  art,"  or  other  than  a  message 
of  Jehovah  to  His  chastened  and  suffering  people  to  whom 
He  was  about  to  give  redemption  and  deliverance.  His  whole 
manner  was  calculated  to  elicit  and  hold  that  rapt  attention 
with  which  the  people  listened  to  his  message.  And  he  seemed 
to  desire  and  expect  just  what  his  hearers  so  plentifully  gave. 


REMINISCENCES  OF  SECOND  INAUGURATION  287 

Only  once  was  he  interrupted  by  applause,  and  that  came 
most  unexpectedly  at  the  close  of  a  peculiarly  significant  state- 
ment and  gave  solemn  emphasis  to  the  next  very  brief 
sentence. 

Speaking  of  conditions  in  the  nation  four  years  before 
he  said:  "Both  parties  deprecated  war;  but  one  of  them  would 
make  war  rather  than  let  the  nation  survive;  and  the  other 
would  accept  war  rather  than  let  it  perish."  So  tense  had 
the  feelings  of  the  audience  become  that  at  the  close  of  that 
sentence  a  storm  of  applause  burst  forth  from  all  the  throng 
and  continued  for  a  considerable  time  with  very  great  force. 
The  President,  though  seemingly  surprised,  was  undisturbed 
by  the  interruption,  and  when  the  applause  ceased  he  very 
deliberately  and  with  most  impressive  solemnity  uttered  the 
four  words  of  the  next  sentence,  "And  the  war  came."  There 
were  tears  in  the  tone  in  which  those  words  were  spoken 
which  touched  the  hearts  of  those  who  heard  him,  and  pre- 
pared them  to  listen  in  silence  to  the  succeeding  portions  of 
the  address. 

A  little  later  in  the  address  the  people  were  moved  as 
standing  grain  at  harvest  time  is  swayed  by  the  evening 
breeze,  but  there  was  no  demonstration,  for  the  impression 
was  too  deep  and  too  peculiar  to  be  fittingly  expressed.  My 
own  experiences  were  probably  like  those  of  others,  and  when 
he  said,  "It  may  seem  strange  that  any  men  should  dare  to 
ask  a  just  God's  assistance  in  wringing  their  bread  from  the 
sweat  of  other  men's  faces,"  my  hands  involuntarily  were 
clinched  in  righteous  indignation,  which  instantly  vanished 
when  he  added,  "But  let  us  judge  not  that  we  be  not  judged." 
Considered  in  connection  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  coTiception  of 
the  character  of  slavery,  together  with  his  life  struggles  and 
hardships  which  preceded  that  day,  and  the  awful  experiences 
and  desolation  of  four  years  of  war,  which  was  even  then  in 
progress,  the  spirit  manifested  by  the  quotation  of  the 
Saviour's  words  was  never  surpassed  by  any  save  the  incar- 
nate Son  of  God. 


288    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Never  did  I  listen  to  a  discourse  which  at  the  time  it  was 
being  delivered  seemed  more  impressively  religious  than  did 
that  inaugural  address.     It   seemed  like  a  very  instructive 
and  helpful  sermon  on  law  and  gospel,  greatly  enriched  and 
strengthened  by  appropriate  passages  of  Scripture,  clearly  and 
correctly  interpreted  and  most  fittingly  applied.     It  caused 
all  the  subsequent  inauguration  ceremonies  to  be  pervaded 
by  a  religious  atmosphere  and  gave  great  significance  to  the 
use  of  the  Bible  in  administering  the  oath  of  office.     Four 
times  did  Mr.  Lincoln  quote  from  the  Scriptures  while  de- 
livering that  address,  twice  from  the  Old  Testament — from 
Genesis  and  the  Psalms — and  twice  from  the  words  of  Jesus 
as  recorded  by  Matthew.     Of  the  seven  hundred  and  two 
words  in  that  address,  two  hundred  and  sixty-six — more  than 
one-third — were  quoted  verbatim  from  the  Word  of  God,  or 
were  employed  in  expounding  and  applying  the  quoted  pas- 
sages.    And  never  were  passages  of   Scripture  more  aptly 
quoted  nor  more  fittingly  applied.     I  had  for  years  been  a 
diligent  Bible  student,  but  never  until  that  day  did  I  realize  the 
tremendous  meaning  of  the  Saviour's  words:     "Woe  unto  the 
world  because  of  offenses !  for  it  must  needs  be  that  offenses 
come;  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offense  cometh." 
Mr.  Lincoln's  interpretation  of  that  passage  as  teaching  the 
great  law  of  divine  retribution  made  a  most  profound  and 
salutary  impression  upon  those  who  heard  it,  and  ever  since 
it  has  grown  in  significance  and  force.     It  was  a  truth  upon 
which  he  had  pondered  long  and  earnestly.     A  declaration 
of  that  truth  was  the  most  striking  feature  of  his  interview 
with  Dr.   Newton  Bateman  in   1860,  and   was   repeated  in 
various  forms  many  times  during  succeeding  years.     Eleven 
months  before  his  second  inauguration  Mr.   Lincoln  stated 
that  truth  in  his  Hodges-Bramlette  letter,  in  language  almost 
identical  with  that  employed  in  the  inaugural  address.     In 
his  letter  to  Thurlow  Weed,  written  eleven  days  after  the 
inauguration,  he  indicated  that  he  regarded  his  declaration 
of  the  law  of  retribution  as  taught  in  the  words  of  Jesus 


REMINISCENCES  OF  SECOND  INAUGURATION  289 

as  the  distinguishing  feature  of  his  address.  And  while  he 
believed  that  his  reference  to  that  divine  law  caused  his  in- 
augural address  to  be  as  he  said,  "not  immediately  popular," 
at  the  same  time  he  confidently  added:  "It  is  a  truth  which 
I  thought  needed  to  be  told,  and  as  whatever  of  humiliation 
there  is  in  it  falls  most  directly  on  myself,  I  thought  others 
might  afford  for  me  to  tell  it."  So  important  did  Mr.  Lin- 
coln regard  the  enunciation  of  that  truth  upon  that  occasion 
that  he  referred  to  it  a  second  time  as  follows:  "Fondly 
do  we  hope — fervently  do  we  pray — that  this  mighty  scourge 
of  war  may  speedily  pass  away.  Yet,  if  God  wills  that  it 
continue  until  all  the  wealth  piled  by  the  bondman's  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk,  and 
until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn  by  the  lash  shall  be  paid 
by  another  drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand 
years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said,  The  judgments  of  the 
Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether.' ' 

I  was  more  deeply  impressed  by  that  passage  than  by 
any  other  portion  of  the  address,  and  the  same  was  evidently 
the  case  with  many  others.  I  was  thrilled  by  its  poetic 
beauty,  and  melted  by  its  humble  and  submissive  spirit.  I 
still  doubt  if  there  can  be  found  in  literature  a  passage  that 
surpasses  it  in  startling  and  graphic  imagery  and  in  dynamic 
force.  At  one  and  the  same  time  it  reveals  the  yearning 
heart  of  hope,  the  uplifted  eye  of  prayer,  the  listening  ear 
of  conscious  guilt,  the  voice  of  righteous  divine  judgment  and 
the  bowed  head  of  penitence.  Its  language  is  chaste,  and 
moves  gracefully  along  the  high  level  of  the  inspired  Word 
which  it  quotes  as  its  climax  with  faultless  fitness. 

It  is  now  more  than  half  a  century  since  I  heard  that 
inaugural  address,  and  from  that  day  to  the  present,  when 
I  hear  or  read  the  iQth  Psalm,  I  have  a  vivid  recollection  of 
seeing  the  form  of  Abraham  Lincoln  standing  in  the  illu- 
minating light  of  that  sunny  afternoon  and  hearing  him  say, 
"The  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true  and  righteous  alto- 
gether." Early  in  life  I  memorized  that  Psalm  and  for  many 


2QO    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

years,  upon  the  flying  train,  in  the  bustling  throng,  when 
overworked,  weary  and  wakeful  at  night,  or  when  the  ten- 
sion of  pain,  sorrow,  or  anxiety  seemed  to  require  relaxation, 
I  have  repeated  that  peculiarly  precious  portion  of  God's 
Word,  but  I  never  reach  that  passage  without  pausing  and 
lingering  in  remembrance  upon  the  time  when  I  neard  those 
words  spoken  by  Abraham  Lincoln. 

As  the  last  word  of  the  address  was  spoken  the  audience 
responded  with  very  hearty  applause,  and  the  President 
calmly  turned  to  the  Chief  Justice,  who  promptly  arose, 
and  advancing  received  from  the  Clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court 
a  copy  of  the  Bible  which  had  been  provided  for  the  occa- 
sion. The  applause  instantly  ceased  and  there  was  deep  and 
impressive  silence  in  all  the  company  during  that  solemn 
ceremony.  The  Chief  Justice,  holding  the  Bible  in  his  left 
hand,  raised  his  right  hand,  and  the  President  with  his  right 
hand  lifted  in  like  manner  placed  his  left  hand  reverently 
upon  the  open  Volume,  and  the  two  great  men  stood  face 
to  face  each  looking  steadily  into  the  other's  eye,  while  the 
President  repeated  the  oath  of  office,  sentence  by  sentence, 
after  the  words  were  spoken  by  the  Chief  Justice. 

The  scene  was  impressive  beyond  all  possible  description. 
The  background  of  the  picture  was  significant,  the  great 
audience  of  distinguished  guests  on  the  inclined  platform 
extended  back  to  the  colonnade  of  the  magnificent  white 
Capitol  building,  with  the  Goddess  of  Liberty  standing  upon 
the  summit  of  the  high  dome  and  then  for  the  first  time 
looking  down  upon  a  Presidential  inauguration ;  with  all  eyes 
turned  upon  the  two  strong  figures  standing  motionless  at 
the  front  of  the  platform,  the  whole  scene  bathed  in  glorious 
sunshine,  and  the  deep  and  solemn  silence  broken  only  by 
the  voices  of  the  two  men  as  they  responsively  repeated  the 
oath  of  office  required  by  the  Constitution  of  the  nation.  Mr. 
Lincoln's  voice  was  in  marked  contrast  with  that  of  the  Chief 
Justice;  the  latter,  although  speaking  in  tones  of  wonderful 
depth  and  volume,  was  heard  by  only  a  limited  number,  while 


BIBLE   ON    WHICH    LINCOLN    TOOK   OATH    OF  OFFICE 


REMINISCENCES  OF  SECOND  INAUGURATION  291 

the  former  repeating  after  him  in  clear  and  ringing  tones  the 
sentences  of  the  oath  sent  his  voice  far  out  to  the  most  dis- 
tant listeners. 

When  with  special  emphasis  he  had  uttered  the  conclud- 
ing words — "So  help  me  God" — Mr.  Lincoln  reverently 
bowed  his  head,  and  fervently  kissed  the  Bible;  and  as  he 
did  so  his  lips  touched  the  27th  and  28th  verses  of  the  fifth 
chapter  of  Isaiah,  which  read  as  follows:  "None  shall  be 
weary  nor  stumble  among  them ;  none  shall  slumber  nor  sleep ; 
neither  shall  the  girdle  of  their  loins  be  loosed,  nor  the  latchet 
of  their  shoes  be  broken:  Whose  arrows  are  sharp,  and  all 
their  bows  bent,  their  horses'  hoofs  shall  be  counted  like  flint, 
and  their  wheels  like  a  whirlwind." 

The  copy  of  the  Bible  containing  those  verses,  marked  by 
the  Chief  Justice,  was  on  the  following  day  given  by  him 
to  Mrs.  Lincoln;  but  the  most  diligent  search,  extending  over 
a  period  of  many  years,  has  failed  to  find  it.  As  Mr.  Lincoln 
uttered  the  last  word  of  his  official  oath  the  booming  of  can- 
non announced  to  the  world  that  the  exercises  of  the  day 
had  been  brought  to  a  successful  close,  and  that  the  new 
administration  had  been  ushered  in. 

At  that  point  there  occurred"  an  event  which  I  believe 
has  never  been  mentioned  in  any  published  account  of  this 
inauguration.  Many  histories  of  those  times  make  mention 
of  Andrew  Johnson's  intoxication  at  the  time  he  received  in  the 
senate  chamber  the  oath  of  office  as  Vice-President,  just  before 
the  Presidential  inauguration;  but  they  contain  no  account 
of  his  connection  with  an  episode  which  followed  the  tak- 
ing of  the  oath  of  office  by  President  Lincoln.  I  can  under- 
stand this  omission  only  by  supposing  that  those  who  have 
given  accounts  of  these  inaugural  proceedings  if  present  at  the 
time  were  sitting  upon  the  platform  with  the  invited  guests 
and  did  not  witness  the  incident.  But,  as  already  stated, 
I  was  standing  directly  in  front  of  the  platform,  only  a  few 
feet  from  where  the  ceremonies  were  being  conducted,  and 
I  saw  all  that  I  am  here  stating.  Just  as  President  Lincoln 


292'  LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

turned  from  kissing  the  Bible  there  arose  from  the  audience 
before  him  an  almost  terrific  call  for  Andrew  Johnson, 
"Andy,  Andy,  speech,  speech!"  was  the  cry  of  the  multitude, 
and  Mr.  Lincoln,  who,  a  little  time  before,  had  seen  the  dis- 
graceful proceedings  in  the  senate,  advanced  to  the  platform 
railing  with  nervous  haste,  and  with  dramatic  earnestness 
shook  his  head  commandingly  to  the  tempestuous  throng. 
But  there  was  little  abatement  of  the  call  for  Johnson,  whose 
torrid  temperament  and  violent  denunciation  of  treason  and 
rebellion  had  made  him  a  popular  idol,  and  when  President 
Lincoln,  after  shaking  his  head,  waved  a  salutation  to  the 
audience  and  turned  to  depart,  the  call  for  the  new  Vice- 
President  was  renewed  with  increased  volume  and  violence. 

For  a  time  Mr.  Johnson  gave  no  heed  to  this  call,  but 
he  finally  arose  and  came  forward  with  the  evident  purpose 
of  speaking.  In  manifest  bewilderment  he  stood  for  a 
moment  in  silence,  and  then  covering  his  eyes  with  his  right 
hand  stood  motionless  as  if  trying  to  collect  his  thoughts. 
His  face  was  flushed  and  seemed  slightly  swollen,  and  many 
voices  in  the  audience  were  heard  saying,  "He  is  sick!  He 
is  sick!  He  cannot  speak!"  And  before  he  could  gain  com- 
mand of  his  great  resources  his  devoted  friend,  Senator  Doo- 
little,  hastily  advanced,  and  taking  his  arm  conducted  him 
into  the  retiring  procession,  up  the  steps  into  the  rotunda. 
I  had  not  a  thought,  and  heard  no  intimation,  that  the  affair 
had  any  undesirable  significance.  I  knew  that  it  was  not  a 
time  for  any  proceedings  not  connected  with  the  inaugural 
ceremonies,  and  I  supposed  that  what  President  Lincoln  did 
in  disapproving  of  the  call  for  Johnson  was  on  that  account. 
I  heard  no  reference  to  the  matter  at  the  time,  and  as  I  left 
Washington  that  evening  for  a  visit  to  my  Ohio  home,  it  was 
several  days  before  I  learned  of  Mr.  Johnson's  unfortunate 
condition  upon  that  occasion. 

Andrew  Johnson,  though  addicted  to  the  habitual  use  of 
intoxicating  liquors,  was  not  a  drunkard,  as  his  condition 
that  day  seemed  to  indicate.  He  was  often  very  considerably 


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REMINISCENCES  OF  SECOND  INAUGURATION  293 

under  the  influence  of  liquor,  but  I  never  learned  of  his  being 
at  any  other  time  as  nearly  maudlin  drunk  as  upon  that  occa- 
sion. For  some  weeks  preceding  that  day  Mr.  Johnson  had 
been  ill  with  ague  at  his  home  in  Tennessee  and  was  weak 
and  nervous  when  he  arrived  at  the  Vice-President's  room 
in  the  Capitol  building  for  his  induction  into  office.  Stating 
his  condition  to  the  retiring  Vice-President,  Hannibal  Ham- 
lin,  he  asked  for  a  glass  of  brandy,  which  Mr.  Hamlin  by 
sending  out  secured.  According  to  Mr.  Hamlin's  statement, 
Mr.  Johnson  drank  about  one-third  of  the  brandy  at  once, 
and  a  little  later  a  like  amount,  and  finally  took  the  remainder 
in  the  glass  as  they  passed  out  of  the  room  to  the  senate 
chamber.  A  considerable  amount  of  time  was  occupied  by 
the  proceedings  in  the  senate  before  the  oath  of  office  was 
administered  to  the  newly  elected  Vice-President,  and  when 
Mr.  Johnson  arose  to  speak  he  was  thoroughly  befuddled; 
and  instead  of  giving  the  able  and  dignified  address  he  was 
rightfully  expected  to  deliver  he  compelled  that  large  as- 
sembly of  the  world's  able  and  distinguished  representatives 
to  listen  for  an  extended  period  to  his  senseless  and  inco- 
herent gibberish.  It  was  an  unspeakably  pitiful  and  humiliat- 
ing spectacle.  Mr.  Johnson  had  risen  from  ignorance, 
poverty  and  obscurity  by  his  own  heroic  and  persistent  efforts 
until  he  had  attained  nation-wide  distinction,  and  had  been 
chosen  by  his  loyal  countrymen  to  the  second  office  in  the 
nation.  He  had  stood  heroically  for  right  and  honor  and 
had  courageously  denounced  treason  and  rebellion  with  un- 
sparing severity  and  effectiveness.  And  on  that  fateful  4th 
of  March  he  stood  triumphant  at  the  zenith  of  his  highest 
known  aspirations,  enshrined  in  the  affections  of  the  nation 
and  with  every  prospect  of  a  distinguished  future  career. 
But  from  that  eminence  he  fell ;  fell  ignobly,  fell  by  his  own 
folly  never  again  to  rise  to  the  heights  of  esteem  and  honor 
upon  which  he  stood  when  he  walked  into  that  senate  chamber 
which  for  years  had  been  the  arena  of  his  contests  with  the 
forces  of  disloyalty.  He  fell  just  as  he  had  reached  the  high 


294    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

station  from  which  he  was  destined  very  soon  to  pass  into 
the  most  exalted  position  of  authority  in  the  world,  as  suc- 
cessor to  Abraham  Lincoln  in  the  office  of  chief  magistrate 
of  the  United  States.  And  in  falling  he  lost  the  popular 
esteem  and  confidence  which  would  have  been  of  priceless 
value  in  aiding  him  successfully  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
that  position.  He  fell  because  he  voluntarily  invited  that 
disaster. 

A  little  boy  when  told  that  he  had  fallen  out  of  bed 
because  he  had  lain  too  near  where  he  got  in,  promptly 
replied,  "No,  I  fell  out  of  bed  because  I  laid  too  near  where 
I  fell  out."  Andrew  Johnson  fell  because  he  walked  too  near 
the  precipice  over  which  he  made  that  headlong  plunge.  He 
was  not  drunk  because  he  was  a  habitual  drunkard,  for  that 
he  was  not ;  but  because  he  was  a  habitual  "moderate  drinker." 
Had  he  been  a  total  abstainer,  as  was  Abraham  Lincoln,  and 
as  was  his  noble  and  worthy  predecessor,  Hannibal  Hamlin, 
the  nation  would  not  have  been  humiliated  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world  as  it  never  had  been  before  by  the  unseemly  and  ill- 
timed  exhibition  of  ignoble  weakness  on  the  part  of  one  of 
its  most  distinguished  representatives. 

So  exasperated  was  President  Lincoln  by  the  incident 
that  as  he  was  passing  out  of  the  senate  chamber  he  said  to 
those  in  charge  of  the  inaugural  proceedings:  "Do  not  permit 
Johnson  to  speak  a  word  during  the  exercises  that  are  now 
to  follow." 

One  feature  of  that  inauguration  which  afforded  Mr.  Lin- 
coln special  delight  was  the  large  attendance  of  colored 
people,  and  the  presence  of  a  company  of  colored  soldiers  as 
a  military  guard.  Nothing  of  the  kind  had  ever  before  oc- 
curred, and  it  was  at  that  time  especially  suitable  because 
it  was  not  only,  as  already  stated,  the  first  Presidential  inau- 
guration beneath  the  great  bronze  statue  of  the  Goddess  of 
Liberty,  but  it  was  also  the  first  Presidential  inauguration  of 
the  nation  free  from  slavery. 

During  the  afternoon  of  that  day  I  saw  groups  of  people 


REMINISCENCES  OF  SECOND  INAUGURATION  295 

at  several  widely  separated  points  in  the  city  all  gazing  toward 
the  heavens,  and  at  length  I,  too,  paused  and  looked,  and  to 
my  unspeakable  surprise  I  saw  a  bright  and  beautiful  star 
shining  with  undimmed  splendor  in  close  proximity  to  the 
unclouded  king  of  day.  It  was  about  three  o'clock,  and  the 
star  was  at  the  point  which  the  sun  had  seemed  to  occupy 
about  one  hour  before.  I  have  never  heard  of  any  scientific 
explanation  of  this  strange  phenomenon,  but  I  could  not  re- 
frain from  regarding  it,  as  did  many  others  who  saw  it,  as 
an  omen  of  good.  It  has  been  stated  that  President  Lincoln 
and  his  attendants  saw  the  star  as  they  were  returning  from 
the  Capitol  to  the  White  House,  and  that  it  gave  the  President 
great  delight,  as  did  the  welcome  sunburst  at  the  inaugura- 
tion. If  not  an  omen  from  above  that  star  was  a  beautiful 
and  gladsome  symbol  of  the  star  of  hope  which  on  that  good 
day  shone  with  celestial  splendor  in  the  hearts  of  the  loyal 
people  of  the  nation. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  second  inaugural  address  was  prepared  by 
him  with  painstaking  care,  and  has  come  to  be  regarded  not 
only  as  his  literary  masterpiece,  but  as  a  state  paper  unex- 
celled in  all  human  history.  From  that  noonday  hour  of 
rifting  clouds  and  dazzling  sunshine,  on  through  the  starlit 
afternoon  that  followed,  and  down  to  the  present  time,  that 
address  has  steadily  advanced  in  public  favor,  and  in  critical 
appreciation.  No  one  ever  has  suggested  for  that  address 
the  addition  or  subtraction  of  a  single  word.  It  seems  to  be 
a  faultless  composite  with  each  of  its  component  parts  fully 
disclosed;  and  no  one  is  able  to  show  that  any  one  part  is 
dominant.  Its  rhetoric  is  perfect ;  its  history  is  full  and  com- 
plete; its  statecraft  is  profound  and  far-seeing,  and  in  every 
part  it  is  illuminated  by  fitly  chosen  gems  of  sacred  truth. 
With  exalted  majesty  it  proclaims  the  sovereignty  of  God 
and  His  inexorable  law  of  righteous  retribution,  and  with 
pathetic  penitence  bears  witness  that  His  judgments  "are  true 
and  righteous  altogether."  In  the  submissive  spirit  of  Geth- 
semane  it  holds  up  the  rod  of  intercession  and  dazzles  hu- 


296    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

manity  with  its  reflection  of  the  celestial  glory  of  the  Cross 
by  its  "malice  toward  none"  and  its  "charity  for  all."  If 
not  as  pleasing  as  the  Gettysburg  address  it  is  far  greater 
and  more  lastingly  impressive  and  potential.  It  is  more  than 
a  masterpiece;  it  is  an  unclassed  state  paper  and  a  literary 
solitaire.  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland  declares  that  the  address  is 
"a  paper  whose  Christian  sentiments  and  whose  reverent  and 
pious  spirit  has  no  parallel  among  the  state  papers  of  the 
American  Presidents." 

Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold  referring  to  it  says:  "Since  the  days 
of  Christ's  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  where  is  the  speech  of 
emperor,  king  or  ruler  which  can  compare  with  this?  May 
we  not  without  irreverence  say  that  passages  of  this  address 
are  worthy  of  that  Holy  Book  which  daily  he  read  and  from 
which  during  his  long  days  of  toil  he  had  drawn  inspiration 
and  guidance?  Where  else  but  from  the  teachings  of  the 
Son  of  God  could  he  have  drawn  that  Christian  charity  which 
pervades  the  last  sentence  in  which  he  so  unconsciously  de- 
scribes his  own  moral  nature:  'with  malice  toward  none,  with 
charity  for  all,  with  firmness  in  the  right  as  God  gives  us 
to  see  the  right.'  No  other  state  paper  in  American  annals, 
not  even  Washington's  farewell  address,  has  made  so  deep  an 
impression  upon  the  people  as  this.  This  paper  in  its  solemn 
recognition  of  the  justice  of  Almighty  God  reminds  us  of 
the  words  of  the  old  Hebrew  prophets." 

Mr.  Arnold  also  tells  us  that  a  distinguished  divine,  after 
hearing  the  address,  said:  "The  President's  inaugural  is  the 
finest  state  paper  in  all  history."  He  also  informs  us  that  a 
distinguished  New  York  statesman  hearing  this  declaration 
replied:  "Yes,  and  as  Washington's  name  grows  brighter 
with  time,  so  it  will  be  with  Lincoln.  A  century  from  today 
that  inaugural  will  be  read  as  one  of  the  most  sublime  utter- 
ances ever  spoken  by  man." 

Hon.  Charles  Sumner,  who  was  always  reserved  and 
temperate  in  his  commendation,  said :  "The  inaugural  address 
which  signalized"  President  Lincoln's  "entry  for  a  second 


REMINISCENCES  OF  SECOND  INAUGURATION  297 

time  upon  his  great  duties  was  briefer  than  any  similar  ad- 
dress in  our  history;  but  it  has  already  gone  farther,  and 
will  live  longer  than  any  other.  It  was  a  continuation  of  the 
Gettysburg  speech,  with  the  same  sublimity  and  gentleness. 
Its  concluding  words  were  like  an  angelic  benediction." 

Carl  Schurz,  in  "The  Writings  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  Vol. 
I.,  p.  67,  says:  "Lincoln's  famous  'Gettysburg  Speech'  has 
been  much  and  justly  admired.  But  far  greater,  as  well  as 
far  more  characteristic,  was  that  inaugural  in  which  he  poured 
out  the  whole  devotion  and  tenderness  of  his  great  soul.  It 
had  all  the  solemnity  of  a  father's  last  admonition  and  bless- 
ing to  his  children  before  he  lay  down  to  die."  It  "was 
like  a  sacred  poem.  No  American  President  had  ever  spoken 
words  like  these  to  the  American  people.  America  never 
had  a  President  who  found  such  words  in  the  depth  of  his 
heart." 

Former  President  R.  B.  Hayes,  in  September,  1878,  said: 
"No  statement  of  the  true  objects  of  the  war  more  complete 
than  this  has  ever  been  made.  It  includes  them  all — Nation- 
ality, Liberty,  Equal  Rights  and  Self-government.  These 
are  the  principles  for  which  the  Union  soldier  fought,  and 
which  it  was  his  aim  to  maintain  and  to  perpetuate." 

We  have  assurance  that  the  address  "was  read  in  Europe 
with  the  most  profound  attention."  The  London  Times 
said:  "It  is  the  most  sublime  state  paper  of  the  century." 

Concerning  it  the  London  Spectator  said:  "We  cannot 
read  it  without  a  renewed  conviction  that  it  is  the  noblest 
political  document  known  to  history,  and  should  have  for  the 
nation  and  the  statesmen  he  left  behind  him  something  of  a 
sacred  and  almost  prophetic  character.  Surely,  none  was 
ever  written  under  a  stronger  sense  of  the  reality  of  God's 
government.  And  certainly  none  written  in  a  period  of  pas- 
sionate conflict  ever  so  completely  excluded  the  partiality  of 
victorious  faction,  and  breathed  so  pure  a  strain  of  mingled 
justice  and  mercy." 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  always  exceedingly  reticent  respecting 


/ 


298    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

any  of  his  own  speeches  or  literary  productions.  I  cannot 
call  to  recollection  one  instance  of  his  speaking  in  any  degree 
of  commendation  concerning  any  of  his  speeches  or  writings 
save  in  his  brief  and  modest  statement  to  Thurlow  Weed  in 
a  letter  written  eleven  days  after  this  address  was  delivered, 
in  which  he  expresses  his  expectation  that  it  will  "wear  as 
well  as — perhaps  better  than — anything  I  have  produced." 
All  of  which  tends  to  show  that  the  man  was  even  greater 
than  his  words. 


FIRST  of  all  was  Abraham  Lincoln's  marvelous  faith 
in  the  Bible.  Upon  that  faith  as  a  foundation  was 
built  his  entire  personal  superstructure.  With  that 
faith  as  an  inspiration  all  his  attitudes  and  activities  were 
chosen  and  maintained.  "Marvelous"  is  not  too  strong  a 
word  to  use  in  designating  his  relation  to  the  sacred  Book. 
The  Bible  was  to  him  the  touchstone  by  which  his  judgment 
on  every  question  was  determined.  In  all  his  business  affairs, 
in  his  professional  pursuits,  in  his  political  affiliations,  and 
in  his  personal  aspirations  and  endeavors,  it  was  his  con- 
stant guide.  "Owe  no  man  anything  but  to  love  one  another," 
was  a  rule  which  he  sought  to  obey,  not  because  it  was  con- 
venient but  because  it  was  a  Bible  admonition.  Whatever 
was  condemned  by  the  Bible  he  stubbornly  opposed.  What- 
ever the  Bible  commended,  he  heartily  approved,  steadfastly 
defended  and  sought  to  promote. 

Abraham  Lincoln  first  learned  to  read  by  slowly  tracing 
the  lines  of  chosen  passages  of  Scripture  under  his  mother's 
prayerful  tuition.  That  tutelage  was  painstaking  and  devout, 
leaving  in  his  memory  sweet  and  sacred  impressions  which 
time  could  not  erase. 

"Mrs.  Lincoln  possessed  but  one  book  in  the  world,  the 
Bible,"  says  Mrs.  Trevena  Jackson,  "and  from  this  book  she 
taught  her  children  daily.  Abraham  had  been  to  school  for 
two  or  three  months,  to  such  a  school  as  the  rude  country 
afforded.  Of  quick  mind  and  retentive  memory,  he  soon  came 
to  know  the  Bible  well-nigh  by  heart,  and  to  look  upon  his 

299 


300    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

gentle  teacher  as  the  embodiment  of  all  the  good  precepts  in 
the  book."  * 

Thus  from  childhood  he  was  Bible-bred  and  the  Word  of 
God  was  transmuted  into  his  being  and  became  the  deter- 
mining influence  in  his  moral  development.  He  believed  that 
Word  as  implicitly  as  he  believed  in  his  own  existence. 

Some  of  his  associates  in  his  early  manhood  were  pro- 
nounced skeptics  and  rejected  the  claims  and  teachings  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  during  all  his  later  years,  even  to  the 
close  of  his  life,  he  was  in  close  professional  and  official  re- 
lations and  fellowship  with  men  who  openly  denied  the 
authenticity  and  divine  inspiration  of  the  Bible;  but  volumi- 
nous as  are  his  published  addresses  and  writings,  they  do  not 
contain  a  single  criticism  of  the  Scriptures  nor  any  word 
calculated  to  weaken  their  hold  upon  human  esteem  and  con- 
fidence. And  no  one  worthy  to  give  trustworthy  testimony 
upon  this  subject  has  yet  arisen  to  disprove  that  assertion. 
Never  flippantly  nor  in  jest,  but  always  with  solemn  and 
impressive  reverence  did  he  quote  from  the  sacred  Book. 

He  regarded  the  declarations  of  Scripture  as  conclusive 
on  any  matter  under  consideration.  Not  a  doubt  of  its  au- 
thenticity or  validity  did  he  ever  express  or  manifest,  nor  did 
he  weaken  its  force  by  recognizing  the  possibility  of  doubt 
in  the  minds  of  others.  It  is  both  interesting  and  instructive 
to  note  the  absolute  confidence  with  which  he  applied  the 
declarations  of  Scripture  to  the  settlement  of  every  question 
in  dispute.  The  Bible  was  to  him  the  court  of  last  resort 
and  his  appeals  to  its  teachings  were  always  made  with  a 
manifest  expectation  that  its  verdict  would  be  accepted  as 
final. 

During  the  early  fifties,  Mr.  Lincoln  bestowed  much 
thought  upon  religious  subjects.  Under  the  very  able  in- 
struction of  Rev.  James  Smith,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  first 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Springfield,  he  was  aided  in  reaching 
a  very  satisfactory  and  settled  conclusion  in  favor  of  the 
1  Lincoln's  use  of  the  Bible,  p.  7. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  301 

authenticity  and  divine  inspiration  of  the  Bible.  During  those 
years,  probably  in  1850,  he  was  invited  to  deliver  a  lecture 
in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Springfield,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Bible  Society  of  that  city.  The  purpose  of 
this  lecture  was  to  aid  in  an  effort  which  at  that  time  was 
being  put  forth  to  place  a  copy  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in 
every  family  in  the  state.  To  assist  in  that  movement  Mr. 
Lincoln  delivered  a  very  able  and  forceful  address,  at  the 
conclusion  of  which  he  said:  "It  seems  to  me  that  nothing 
short  of  infinite  wisdom  could  by  any  possibility  have  devised 
and  given  to  man  this  excellent  and  perfect  moral  code.  It 
is  suited  to  men  in  all  conditions  of  life,  and  includes  all  the 
duties  they  owe  to  their  Creator,  to  themselves,  and  to  their 
fellowmen."  2 

Robert  Browne,  M.  D.,  who  was  for  many  years  on  terms 
of  intimacy  with  Mr.  Lincoln  and  shared  a  degree  of  his 
confidence  which  was  given  to  few  men,  in  his  excellent  life 
of  Lincoln,  has  this  to  say: 

In  speaking  of  Paine's  "Age  of  Reason,"  he  laid  it  aside, 
saying:  "I  have  looked  through  it,  carelessly  it  is  true;  but 
there  is  nothing  to  such  books.  God  rules  this  world,  and  out 
of  seeming  contradictions,  that  all  these  kind  of  reasoners 
seem  unable  to  understand,  He  will  develop  and  disclose  His 
plans  for  men's  welfare  in  His  inscrutable  way.  Not  all 
of  Paine's  nor  all  the  French  distempered  stuff  will  make  a 
man  better,  but  worse.  They  might  lay  down  tons  and  heaps 
of  their  heartless  reasonings  alongside  a  few  of  Christ's  say- 
ings and  parables,  to  find  that  He  had  said  more  for  the 
benefit  of  our  race  in  one  of  them  than  there  is  in  all  they 
have  written.  They  might  read  His  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
to  learn  that  there  is  more  of  justice,  righteousness,  kindness 
and  mercy  in  it  than  in  the  minds  and  books  of  all  the  ignorant 
doubters  from  the  beginning  of  human  knowledge."  * 

During   his   conference    with    Hon.    L.    E.    Chittenden, 

9  Scrfbner^s  Magazine,  July,  1873,  p.  338. 

3  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Men  of  his  Time,  Vol.  II.,  p.  426. 


302     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Register  of  the  Treasury,  respecting  the  resignation  of  Sec- 
retary Salmon  P.  Chase,  and  the  appointment  of  his  suc- 
cessor, Mr.  Lincoln  said: 

"The  character  of  the  Bible  is  easily  established,  at  least 
to  my  satisfaction.  We  have  to  believe  many  things  which 
we  do  not  comprehend.  The  Bible  is  the  only  one  that 
claims  to  be  God's  book — to  comprise  His  law — His  his- 
tory. It  contains  an  immense  amount  of  evidence  of  its  own 
authenticity.  It  describes  a  governor  omnipotent  enough  to 
operate  this  great  machine,  and  declares  that  He  made  it. 
It  states  other  facts  which  we  fully  do  not  comprehend,  but 
which  we  cannot  account  for.  What  shall  we  do  with  them? 

"Now  let  us  treat  the  Bible  fairly.  If  we  had  a  witness 
on  the  stand  whose  general  story  we  knew  was  true,  we  would 
believe  him  when  he  asserted  facts  of  which  we  had  no  other 
evidence.  We  ought  to  treat  the  Bible  with  equal  fairness. 
I  decided  a  long  time  ago  that  it  was  less  difficult  to  believe 
that  the  Bible  was  what  it  claimed  to  be  than  to  disbelieve  it. 
It  is  a  good  Book  for  us  to  obey;  it  contains  the  ten  com- 
mandments, the  golden  rule,  and  many  other  rules  which 
ought  to  be  followed.  No  man  was  ever  the  worse  for  living 
according  to  the  directions  of  the  Bible." 

"I  could  not  press  inquiry  further,"  says  Mr.  Chittenden. 
"I  knew  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  no  hypocrite.  There  was  an 
air  of  such  sincerity  in  his  manner  of  speaking,  and  especially 
in  his  references  to  the  Almighty,  that  no  one  could  have 
doubted  his  faith  unless  the  doubter  believed  him  dishonest. 

"Further  comment  cannot  be  necessary.  Abraham  Lin- 
coln accepted  the  Bible  as  the  inspired  Word  of  God — he 
believed  and  faithfully  endeavored  to  live  according  to  the 
fundamental  principles  and  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith. 
To  doubt  either  proposition  is  to  be  untrue  to  his  memory, 
a  disloyalty  of  which  no  American  should  be  guilty."  * 

And  it  was  not  a  mutilated  Bible  in  which  Abraham  Lin- 
coln so  confidently  believed.  It  was  the  complete  volume  of 
4  Recollections  of  President  Lincoln,  pp.  448-451. 


Oi-^fi^^~<l  <?~~^,  O/"     /3^£*—--»*~~^- 

/    x/    /  a-  * 


:•   ^«-     f*>~r<*/- 


DISCOVERIES  AND   INVENTIONS 

Facsimile  of  first  page  of  the  lecture  supposed  to  have  been  lost.  From 
photographs  of  the  original  manuscript  now  owned  by  Hon.  Henry  C. 
Melvin,  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  California. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  303 

thirty-nine  Old  Testament  books  from  which  the  Saviour 
quoted  and  to  which  He  referred  when  He  said  "Search 
the  Scriptures,"  together  with  the  twenty-seven  New  Testa- 
ment books;  it  was  the  entire  Bible,  as  commonly  understood. 
All  this  with  unquestioning  confidence  he  accepted  and  quoted 
as  divine  revelation. 

Many  have  erroneously  supposed  that  the  lecture  on 
"Discoveries  and  Inventions,"  which  Mr.  Lincoln  prepared 
and  delivered  in  1859-60,  was  not  preserved.  Fortunately, 
the  manuscript  of  that  lecture  was  among  the  effects  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  left  in  a  satchel  with  Mrs.  Grimsley  at  Spring- 
field, a  few  days  before  his  departure  for  Washington  to  be 
inaugurated  as  President,  and  it  has  been  carefully  kept  and 
is  still  in  excellent  condition. 

After  Mr.  Lincoln's  death  the  satchel  was  opened  and 
among  the  articles  which  it  contained  was  the  manuscript  of 
that  lecture,  which  was  given  to  Dr.  S.  H.  Melvin,  one  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  intimate  and  devoted  friends.  Dr.  Melvin  was 
a  man  of  great  personal  worth  and  a  devout  and  faithful 
Christian.  He  was  one  of  the  committee  sent  to  Washington 
by  the  people  of  Springfield  to  escort  the  remains  of  the 
martyr  President  to  their  final  resting  place  in  his  home  city. 

Subsequently  Dr.  Melvin  became  a  resident  of  Oakland, 
California,  where  it  was  my  privilege  to  be  his  near  neighbor 
and  to  have  many  interesting  and  helpful  interviews  with 
him  concerning  Mr.  Lincoln.  Dr.  Melvin  kept  the  manuscript 
copy  of  the  lecture  with  great  care  until  his  death,  when  it 
came  into  the  possession  of  his  son,  Hon.  Henry  A.  Melvin, 
one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  California,  by 
whose  courtesy  I  have  been  permitted  to  give  the  precious 
document  a  prolonged  and  careful  examination  and  to  repro- 
duce in  facsimile  in  this  chapter  two  of  its  pages. 

In  that  manuscript,  Mr.  Lincoln  mentions  Genesis,  Exo- 
dus, and  Deuteronomy  "as  the  Books  of  Moses"  and  refers 
as  follows  to  some  of  their  historical  records:  "Before  the 


304     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

fall  man  was  put  into  the  Garden  of  Eden  to  dress  it  and  to 
keep  it. 

"His  (man's)  first  important  discovery  was  the  fact  that 
he  was  naked,  and  his  first  invention  was  the  fig  leaf  apron. 

"At  the  first  interview  of  the  Almighty  with  Adam  and 
Eve,  after  the  fall,  he  made  coats  of  skins  and  clothed  them. 
The  Bible  makes  no  allusion  to  clothing  before  the  fall.  Soon 
after  the  Deluge,  Noah's  two  sons  covered  him  with  a  gar- 
ment, but  of  what  material  the  garment  was  made,  is  not 
mentioned. 

"Tubal  Cain  was  the  seventh  in  descent  from  Adam  and 
his  birth  was  about  one  thousand  years  before  the  flood." 

In  speaking  of  inventions  he  refers  to  the  Ark  "as  belong- 
ing rather  to  the  miraculous  than  to  human  invention."  He 
refers  to  "the  first  transgression  and  the  penalty."  He  also 
mentions  Abraham's  act  "preparatory  to  sacrificing  Isaac  as 
a  burnt  offering."  "The  Red  Sea  being  safely  passed,  Moses 
and  the  Children  of  Israel  sang  to  the  Lord.  The  horse  and 
his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  Sea.' 

"Abraham  mentions  'thread'  in  such  connection  as  to  in- 
dicate that  spinning  and  weaving  were  in  use  in  his  day 
(Genesis  xiv,  23),  and  soon  after,  reference  to  the  art  is 
frequently  made." 

"The  above  mention  of  thread  by  Abraham  is  the  oldest 
recorded  allusion  to  spinning  and  weaving;  and  it  was  made 
about  two  thousand  years  after  the  creation  of  man,  and  now 
near  four  thousand  years  ago.  Profane  authors  think  these 
arts  originated  in  Egypt ;  and  this  is  not  contradicted  or  made 
improbable  by  anything  in  the  Bible ;  for  the  allusion  of  Abra- 
ham mentioned  was  not  made  until  after  he  had  sojourned 
in  Egypt. 

"The  oldest  recorded  allusion  to  the  wheel  and  axle  is 
the  mention  of  a  'chariot'  (Genesis  xi:43).  This  was  in 
Egypt,  upon  the  occasion  of  Joseph  being  made  Governor  by 
Pharaoh.  It  was  about  twenty-five  hundred  years  after  the 
creation  of  Adam. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  305 

"Joseph's  brethren,  on  their  first  visit  to  Egypt,  'laded 
their  asses  with  the  corn,  and  departed  thence.' ' 

These  quotations  were  all  carefully  made  with  full  desig- 
nation of  the  books,  chapters  and  verses  in  which  they  are 
found  in  the  Bible.  They  are  all  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  lecture  on 
"Discoveries  and  Inventions,"  from  the  original  manuscript 
of  which,  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  own  handwriting,  I  have  made 
these  quotations. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  this  lecture  was  prepared 
by  Mr.  Lincoln  after  he  had  attained  nation-wide  fame  by  his 
debates  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  and  it  was  delivered  in 
Springfield  on  the  22nd  day  of  February,  1860,  only  five  days 
before  his  great  speech  at  Cooper  Institute  in  New  York.  It 
was,  however,  before  the  new  birth  of  deeper  and  fuller 
spiritual  realization  into  which  he  was  ushered  by  his  call 
to  the  Presidency  and  the  overwhelming  sense  of  responsi- 
bility and  of  human  helplessness  which  caused  him  to  humble 
himself  before  God,  and  to  search  the  Scriptures  with  greater 
diligence  and  stronger  faith  than  ever  before. 

And  yet  at  that  height  of  personal  vigor,  when  men  are 
most  self-reliant  and  inclined  to  skepticism,  with  his  spirit 
unchastened  by  sorrow  and  unsobered  by  responsibility,  he 
holds  up  as  authentic  and  valid,  not  a  Bible  composed  of 
selected  portions  of  ancient  Scriptures,  but  the  complete 
volume  of  revealed  Truth,  which  the  Church  regards,  and 
which  he  at  that  time  and  ever  after  regarded  as  an  accurate 
historical  record  and  an  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 
Mr.  Lincoln's  purpose  in  making  these  quotations  from  the 
Scripture  was  to  give  reliable,  historical  information  concern- 
ing the  matter  under  consideration.  He  quoted  from  the  Bible 
because  he  had  unquestioning  confidence  in  its  historical 
records.  In  so  doing  he  declares  his  belief  in  the  commonly 
accepted  teachings  of  Scripture  respecting  the  following  im- 
portant matters:  Antiquity  of  Scriptural  records;  commonly 
accepted  Bible  chronology;  Mosaic  authorship  of  the  Penta- 
teuch; account  of  the  Creation  of  Man;  Transgression  and 


306     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Fall;  Penalty  for  Man's  Transgression;  Fig-leaf  covering; 
divinely  provided  garments  of  animal  skins;  Deluge;  Build- 
ing of  the  Ark;  Noah's  intoxication;  Abraham's  offering  of 
Isaac;  Story  of  Joseph;  Bondage  in  Egypt;  and  Crossing  the 
Red  Sea. 

All  who  know  how  scrupulously  careful  Mr.  Lincoln 
always  was  never  knowingly  to  make  false  impressions,  will 
agree  in  declaring  that  he  would  not  have  made  these  quota- 
tions had  he  entertained  a  doubt  of  their  absolute  historical 
accuracy.  If  he  had  regarded  any  of  those  records  as  alle- 
gorical or  in  any  way  less  than  reliable  history  he  would 
not  have  referred  to  them  as  he  did  in  this  carefully  prepared 
address.  The  same  may  be  said  of  other  literature  in  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  so  mentions  the  Bible  and  quotes  from  its  records 
as  to  express  his  belief  in  the  scriptural  account  of  the  fol- 
lowing: Cain's  murder  of  Abel;  the  great  age  of  Methuselah; 
the  finding  of  the  infant  Moses  by  Pharaoh's  daughter;  the 
Angel  of  Death  in  Egypt;  the  Plagues  inflicted  upon  Egypt; 
Hainan's  Gallows  and  his  execution;  the  Miraculous  healing 
of  the  Gadarene;  the  Miracle  of  the  Loaves  and  Fishes;  the 
Saviour's  Agony  and  Prayer  in  Gethsemane;  and  the 
Saviour's  Sufferings  upon  the  Cross. 

Vibrant  with  love,  the  love  of  a  great  heart  for  its  most 
cherished  object  of  affection,  are  the  words  which  were 
spoken  by  President  Lincoln  when  on  September  7th,  1864, 
upon  receiving  from  some  colored  people  of  Baltimore  a  copy 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  he  said:  "In  regard  to  this  great  Book 
I  have  but  to  say,  it  is  the  best  gift  God  has  given  to  man. 
All  the  good  Saviour  gave  to  the  world  was  communicated 
through  this  Book.  But  for  it  we  could  not  know  right  from 
wrong.  All  things  most  desirable  for  man's  welfare,  here 
and  hereafter,  are  to  be  found  portrayed  in  it."  5 

How  like  the  tribute  which  an  impassioned  lover  pays 
to  the  object  of  his  heart's  delight  is  this  expression  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln's  personal  regard  for  "the  great  Book  of  God." 
5  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  218. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  307 

Those  who,  having  heard  him  speak,  as  was  my  privilege, 
and  noted  the  irresistible  impressiveness  with  which  he  always 
modulated  his  wonderful  voice  when  he  referred  to  or  quoted 
from  the  Bible,  will  in  imagination  hear  the  melting  melody 
of  which  there  can  be  no  reproduction,  as  they  read  the  above 
sublime  utterance  from  as  pure  and  sincere  a  heart  as  ever 
throbbed  with  human  love  and  admiration. 

A  skillful  gardener,  when  asked  what  he  did  to  his  flowers 
to  cause  them  to  be  so  beautiful,  proudly  replied,  "I  love 
them."  No  further  explanation  was  necessary;  so  the  mys- 
terious influence  of  the  Bible  upon  the  life  and  works  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  is  fully  explained  by  his  affectionate  regard  for 
the  sacred  Volume.  Lincoln  loved  the  Bible.  He  not  only 
accepted  it  in  its  entirety  as  the  revealed  Word  of  God,  but 
he  could  say  as  did  the  Psalmist,  "O,  how  love  I  thy  law! 
It  is  my  meditation  all  the  day." 

It  was  that  love  which  bound  him  with  fetters  of  enrap- 
tured constraint  to  the  diligent  study  of  the  sacred  Word,  a 
passion  of  which  all  his  associates  were  compelled  to  take 
note.  It  was  that  love  that  so  opened  his  mind  to  the  decla- 
rations he  thus  studied  as  to  cause  them  to  remain  fixed  in 
his  recollection,  and  be  transmuted  into  the  exalted  character 
which  continues  to  be  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the 
world. 

In  a  letter  to  Miss  Mary  Speed,  in  1841,  when  he  was 
thirty-two  years  old,  he  wrote:  "Tell  your  mother  that  I  have 
not  got  her  'present'  (an  Oxford  Bible)  with  me,  but  I  intend 
to  read  it  regularly  when  I  return  home.  I  doubt  not  that 
it  is  really,  as  she  says,  the  best  cure  for  the  blues,  could 
one  but  take  it  according  to  the  truth.'" 

How  faithfully  he  kept  his  promise  to  read  the  Bible 
regularly  is  shown  by  the  many  quotations  from  the  Scrip- 
tures which  are  found  in  his  speeches  and  writings  during 
succeeding  years.  His  mind  seemed  stored  with  Bible  truth 
and  he  was  never  at  a  loss  for  a  passage  just  suited  to  his 

6  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  I.,  p.  180. 


3o8    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

needs.  In  addition  to  the  fact  of  his  familiarity  with  the 
Bible  are  his  own  declarations,  and  the  statements  of  others, 
respecting  his  diligent  Bible  study. 

Colonel  W.  H.  Crook,  who  was  for  years  President  Lin- 
coln's highly  esteemed  and  trusted  bodyguard,  says:  "The 
daily  life  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  usually  commenced  at 
eight  o'clock,  and  immediately  upon  dressing  the  President 
would  go  into  the  library,  where  he  would  sit  in  his  favorite 
chair  in  the  middle  of  the  room  and  read  a  chapter  or  two 
of  his  Bible.  I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  this  was 
President  Lincoln's  invariable  custom — at  least  it  was  such 
during  the  time  I  was  on  duty  with  him."  1 

Mr.  Alexander  Williamson,  who  was  engaged  as  tutor  in 
the  Lincoln  family  in  Washington,  said:  "Mr.  Lincoln  very 
frequently  studied  the  Bible  with  the  aid  of  Cruden's  Con- 
cordance, which  lay  on  his  table."  8 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  fixed  times 
for  Bible  study  as  here  stated  by  Colonel  Crook  and  Mr. 
Williamson,  and  that  at  such  times  he  put  aside  every  care 
and  thought,  and  gave  whole-hearted  and  undivided  attention 
to  the  teachings  of  God's  Word.  But  in  addition  to  this  it 
was  his  custom  to  pick  up  his  Bible  as  opportunities  were 
presented  between  public  duties  and  whenever  a  few  minutes 
could  be  given  to  its  perusal,  and  in  some  secluded  nook  or 
at  an  open  window  at  the  evening  hour,  read  and  meditate 
upon  its  teachings.  Some  striking  instances  in  which  this 
occurred  are  here  given. 

Elizabeth  Keckley,  thirty  years  a  slave  and  four  years  a 
companion  and  dressmaker  for  Mrs.  Lincoln,  in  the  White 
House,  says: 

"One  day  Mr.  Lincoln  came  into  the  room  where  I  was 
fitting  a  dress  for  Mrs.  Lincoln.  His  step  was  slow  and  heavy 
and  his  face  was  sad.  Like  a  tired  child  he  threw  himself 
upon  a  sofa  and  shaded  his  eyes  with  his  hands.  He  was  a 

7  Memories  of  the  White  House,  p.  15. 

8  Lincoln's  use  of  the  Bible,  p.  8. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  309 

complete  picture  of  dejection.     Mrs.  Lincoln  observing  his 
troubled  look  asked,  'Where  have  you  been,  father?' 

"  To  the  War  Department,'  was  the  brief  almost  sullen 
answer. 

"  'Any  news?' 

"  'Yes,  plenty  of  news,  but  no  good  news.    It  is  dark,  dark 
everywhere.' 

"He  reached  forth  one  of  his  long  arms  and  took  a  small 
Bible  from  a  stand  near  the  head  of  the  sofa,  opened  the 
pages  of  the  Holy  Book  and  soon  was  absorbed  in  reading 
them.  A  quarter  of  an  hour  passed,  and  on  glancing  at  the 
sofa  the  face  of  the  President  seemed  more  cheerful.  The 
dejected  look  was  gone  and  the  countenance  was  lighted  up 
with  new  resolution  and  hope.  The  change  was  so  marked 
that  I  could  not  but  wonder  at  it,  and  wonder  led  to  the 
desire  to  know  what  book  of  the  Bible  afforded  so  much  com- 
fort to  the  reader.  Making  the  search  for  a  missing  article 
an  excuse,  I  walked  gently  around  the  sofa  and  looking  into 
the  open  book  I  discovered  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  reading 
that  Divine  Comforter  Job.  He  read  with  Christian  eager- 
ness and  the  courage  and  hope  that  he  derived  from  the  in- 
spired pages  made  him  a  new  man.  I  almost  imagined  that 
I  could  hear  the  Lord  speaking  to  him  from  out  the  whirl- 
wind battle,  'Gird  up  thy  loins  now,  like  a  man ;  I  will  demand 
of  thee  and  declare  thou  unto  me.'  "9 

On  May  4th,  1862,  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  Secretaries  Chase 
and  Stanton,  made  a  trip  to  Fortress  Monroe  on  an  important 
mission.  During  their  sojourn  at  that  place  some  very  excit- 
ing events  occurred,  including  the  taking  of  Norfolk  and  the 
consequent  destruction  by  the  Confederates  of  the  ironclad 
Merrimac,  which  had  been  until  the  advent  of  the  Monitor, 
such  a  terror  to  Government  vessels.  On  their  return  from 
that  trip,  though  all  were  at  a  high  tension,  Mr.  Lincoln  with- 
drew from  the  company  and  when  found  was,  according  to 
the  statement  of  a  Mr.  Jay,  sitting  in  a  secluded  corner  of  the 
9  Elizabeth  Keckley,  Behind  the  Scenes,  pp.  118-120. 


3io     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

vessel,  absorbed  in  reading  his  pocket  edition  of  the  New 
Testament. 

In  the  summer  of  1864,  Hon.  Joshua  F.  Speed,  one  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  closest  friends,  was  invited  to  spend  a  night 
with  the  President  and  his  family  at  the  Soldiers'  Home,  near 
the  city  of  Washington.  Respecting  an  incident  which  oc- 
curred during  that  visit  Mr.  Speed  says: 

"As  I  entered  the  room,  near  night,  he  was  sitting  near 
a  window  intently  reading  his  Bible.  Approaching  I  said, 
'I  am  glad  to  see  you  so  profitably  engaged.' 

"  'Yes,'  he  said,  'I  am  profitably  engaged.' 

"  'Well,'  said  I,  'if  you  have  recovered  from  your  skep- 
ticism, I  am  sorry  to  say  I  have  not.' 

"Looking  me  earnestly  in  the  face  and  placing  his  hand 
on  my  shoulder,  he  said:  'You  are  wrong,  Speed.  Take 
all  of  this  book  upon  reason  that  you  can  and  the  balance  on 
faith  and  you  will  live  and  die  a  happier  and  better  man.'  "10 

Dr.  Robert  Browne,  to  whom  reference  already  has  been 
made,  says: 

"Mr.  Lincoln  read  his  Bible  every  day.  He  held  it  to  be 
his  treasure  and  indisputable  authority.  In  its  texts  and 
principles  he  founded  the  basis  of  every  argument  or  declara- 
tion he  ever  used  against  slavery.  He  did  this,  too,  in  his 
remarkable  progress  and  high  distinction  as  a  lawyer.  In 
the  same  way  he  grounded  his  belief  and  framed  his  reason- 
ing on  his  land  and  debt  reforms  in  profound  respect  and 
obedience  to  divine  authority.  He  referred  often  to  Matt. 
7:12.  'Therefore  all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them;  for  this  is  the  law 
and  the  prophets.'  "  " 

This  habitual  Bible  study  caused  Mr.  Lincoln  to  become 
so  familiar  with  the  Bible  that  he  could  often  use  passages 
and  incidents  to  great  advantage  in  conversation  with  those 
who  called  upon  him  at  the  White  House.  An  exceedingly 

10  Reminiscences  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  32. 

11  Abraham  Lincoln  and  the  Men  of  his  Time,  Vol.  II.,  p.  633. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  311 

interesting  instance  of  this  is  given  by  Thomas  F.  Pendleton, 
who  was  for  many  years  doorkeeper  at  the  White  House: 

"One  day  a  man  with  a  very  swarthy  complexion  came  in, 
wearing  a  silk  hat  and  a  Prince  Albert  coat.  You  would  have 
taken  him  at  first  glance  for  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  He 
commenced  finding  fault  with  Mr.  Stanton,  accusing  him  of 
not  carrying  out  the  order  that  President  Lincoln  had  given 
two  weeks  before  to  have  a  certain  man  liberated  from  prison 
who  had  been  sentenced  to  death  but  was  pardoned. 

"Mr.  Lincoln  listened  patiently  to  his  complaint  and  then 
said  emphatically:  'If  it  had  not  been  for  me  that  man 
would  now  be  in  his  grave.  Now,  sir,  you  claim  to  be  a 
philanthropist.  If  you  will  get  your  Bible  and  turn  to  the 
3Oth  chapter  of  Proverbs,  the  tenth  verse,  you  will  read  these 
words:  'Accuse  not  a  servant  unto  his  master,  lest  he  curse 
thee  and  thou  be  found  guilty/  Whereupon  the  man  got 
huffy  and  went  away.  But  as  he  went  out  he  said  angrily, 
'There  is  no  such  passage  in  the  Bible.'  'Oh,  yes,'  said 
Mr.  Lincoln,  'I  think  you  will  find  it  in  the  3Oth  chapter 
of  Proverbs  and  at  the  tenth  verse/ 

"This  was  late  in  the  afternoon  and  I  thought  no  more  of 
the  occurrence.  Next  morning  I  was  at  Mr.  Lincoln's  office 
door  as  usual  at  eight  o'clock  and  heard  some  one  calling 
out,  'Oh,  Pendleton,  I  say  Pendleton,  come  in  here/  When 
I  went  inside  Mr.  Lincoln  said  to  me:  'Wait  a  minute/ 
He  stepped  quickly  into  the  private  part  of  the  house  and 
soon  reappeared  with  his  Bible  in  his  hand.  He  then  sat 
down  and  read  to  me  that  identical  passage  he  had  quoted  to 
the  philanthropist,  and  sure  enough  it  was  found  to  be  in 
the  3Oth  chapter  of  Proverbs,  and  at  the  tenth  verse. 

"In  those  days  I  was  not  much  of  a  Bible  reader,  but  in 
1865  I  decided  that  all-important  question  whether  or  not  I 
should  not  be  a  follower  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  I  commenced 
reading  a  little  old  Bible  that  I  had  bought  at  the  second- 
hand store.  .  .  .  One  day  I  came  across  that  same  passage 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  quoted  to  the  angry  philanthropist. 


312     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

The  whole  occurrence  came  back  to  me  and  I  thought  what 
a  just  man  was  the  President.  He  was  not  even  willing  for 
me  to  be  in  doubt  as  to  his  correct  quotation  of  a  Bible  pas- 
sage but  must  needs  take  his  precious  time  to  prove  himself 
right  in  my  eyes."12 

During  his  service  in  Congress,  on  May  2ist,  1848,  in  a 
somewhat  infelicitous  correspondence  with  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck, 
with  reference  to  some  acts  under  consideration,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln said:  "Possibly  you  consider  those  acts  too  small  for 
notice.  Would  you  venture  to  so  consider  them  had  they  been 
committed  by  any  nation  on  earth  against  the  humblest  of 
our  people?  I  know  you  would  not.  Then  I  ask,  is  the 
precept,  'Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you, 
do  ye  even  so  to  them,'  obsolete?  of  no  force?  of  no  appli- 
cation?"13 

During  the  preceding  year,  in  a  speech  in  Congress  on 
the  tariff,  December  ist,  1847,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "In  the 
early  days  of  our  race  the  Almighty  said  to  the  first  of  our 
race,  'In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread' ;  and  since 
then,  if  we  except  the  light  and  air  of  heaven,  no  good  thing 
has  been  or  can  be  enjoyed  by  us  without  having  first  cost 
labor."14 

In  his  eulogy  on  Henry  Clay,  Mr.  Lincoln  said: 
"Pharaoh's  country  was  cursed  with  plagues  and  his  hosts 
were  lost  in  the  Red  Sea  for  striving  to  retain  a  captive  people 
who  had  already  served  them  for  more  than  four  hundred 
years.  May  this  disaster  never  befall  us  !"15 

In  his  speech  at  Peoria,  Illinois,  October  i6th,  1854,  he 
said:  "God  did  not  place  good  and  evil  before  man,  telling 
him  to  make  his  choice.  On  the  contrary,  He  did  tell  him 
there  was  one  tree  of  the  fruit  of  which  he  should  not  eat, 
upon  pain  of  certain  death."18 

12  Thirty-six  Years  in  the  White  House,  pp.  25-26. 

13  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  II.,  p.  26. 

14  Ibid.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  306. 

15  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  177. 

16  Ibid.,  p.  253. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  313 

At  Alton,  Illinois,  October  I5th,  1858,  in  his  closing 
speech  of  the  great  debate  with  Douglas,  Mr.  Lincoln  said: 
"He  (Douglas)  has  warred  upon  them  (Lincoln's  sentiments) 
as  Satan  wars  upon  the  Bible."17 

Even  in  foreign  lands,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  known  as  a  devout 
Bible  student,  as  indicated  by  the  following  from  Richard 
Lovell,  A.M.,  London:  "Lincoln's  nature  was  deeply  religious. 
From  boyhood  he  had  been  familiar  with  the  Bible  and  as 
the  years  passed  his  belief  and  trust  in  God's  overruling  and 
active  providence  in  the  affairs  of  men  and  nations  ever 
deepened."18 

As  Trevena  Jackson  says:  "The  spirit  of  the  Bible  was 
built  into  Lincoln's  boyhood,  expanded  in  his  young  man- 
hood, ripened  in  his  middle  age,  sustained  him  when  sorrows 
seared  his  soul,  and  gave  to  him  a  grip  upon  God,  man,  free- 
dom, and  immortality.  The  influence  of  the  Bible  upon  him 
gave  him  reverence  for  God  and  His  will;  for  Christianity 
and  its  Christ;  for  the  Holy  Spirit  and  its  help;  for  prayer 
and  its  power;  for  praise  and  its  purpose;  for  the  immortal 
impulse  and  its  inspiration."19 

In  1901,  in  an  address  before  the  American  Bible  Society 
on  "Reading  the  Bible,"  former  President  Roosevelt  made 
the  following  tender  statements  respecting  Lincoln's  fa- 
miliarity with  the  Bible:  "Lincoln,  sad,  patient,  kindly  Lin- 
coln, who,  after  bearing  upon  his  shoulders  for  four  years 
a  greater  burden  than  that  borne  by  any  other  man  of  the 
Nineteenth  century,  laid  down  his  life  for  the  people  whom, 
living,  he  had  served  so  well,  built  up  his  entire  reading  upon 
his  study  of  the  Bible.  He  had  mastered  it  absolutely,  mas- 
tered it  as  later  he  mastered  only  one  or  two  other  books, 
notably  Shakespeare,  mastered  it  so  that  he  became  almost 
a  man  of  one  book  who  knew  that  book,  and  who  instinctively 
put  into  practice  what  he  had  been  taught  therein;  and  he 

17  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  V.,  p.  45. 

18  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  16. 

19  Lincoln's  use  of  the  Bible,  p.  35. 


3i4     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

left  his  life  as  part  of  the  crowning  work  of  the  century 
just  closed."20 

Investigating  the  religious  faith  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
is  like  working  a  vein  of  high-grade  ore,  which  increases  in 
width  and  in  richness  as  the  work  of  mining  progresses. 
It  is  more  than  five  decades  since  I  first  began  to  prosecute 
my  researches  on  this  subject.  These  researches  began  dur- 
ing the  year  1860,  after  Mr.  Lincoln  had  become  the  repub- 
lican candidate  for  President  of  the  United  States,  being 
suggested  by  the  volume  published  that  year  as  a  campaign 
document  which  contained  not  only  the  speeches  by  Lincoln 
and  Douglas,  but  also  some  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  most  notable 
speeches  prior  and  subsequent  to  those  famous  debates.  In 
addition  to  his  own  declarations  concerning  religious  matters 
I  have  sought,  with  great  care,  to  collate  information  respect- 
ing his  faith  from  the  testimonies  of  those  with  whom  he 
was  most  intimately  associated.  As  this  investigation  has 
proceeded  I  have  found  the  subject  becoming  increasingly 
fascinating  and  instructive;  and  with  the  product  of  my 
prolonged  researches  before  me  I  am  profoundly  im- 
pressed by  the  clear  and  unequivocal  evidence  furnished  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  firm  belief  in  the  most  vital  features  of  Christian 
truth. 

The  first  scriptural  truth  learned  by  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  doubtless  that  stated  in  the  first  four  words  of  the  Bible: 
"In  the  beginning  God."  That  truth  which,  as  a  mere  child 
he  was  taught  by  his  godly  mother,  became  and  continued  to 
be  the  foundation  upon  which  was  erected  his  entire  system 
of  religious  faith.  His  belief  in  a  Supreme  Being  was  at 
once  fundamental  and  all-dominant  in  his  faith  and  life. 

It  may  be  only  a  mere  fancy,  but  it  is  exceedingly  inter- 
esting and  suggestive,  that  the  earliest  fragment  of  his  auto- 
graph now  known  to  be  in  existence  is  the  following  rhyme 
written  in  his  copy  book  when  he  was  only  fourteen  years 
old: 

20  Lincoln's  use  of  the  Bible,  p.  10. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  315 

"Abraham  Lincoln 
his  hand  and  pen. 
he  will  be  good  but 
god  knows  When." 

It  is  profoundly  significant  that  this  child  of  destiny,  at 
his  life's  early  morning,  in  clumsy  but  impressive  verse  thus 
reverently  coupled  his  own  name  with  that  of  his  Creator, 
and  that  the  hand  which  afterwards  wrote  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  first  learned  to  use  a  pen  by  laboriously  writing 
a  declaration  of  belief  in  a  Supreme  Being. 

The  significance  of  this  youthful  testimony  to  the  exist- 
ence and  omniscience  of  God  is  not  in  the  least  degree  de- 
pendent upon  his  comprehension  of  the  full  meaning  of  what 
he  wrote.  If  it  be  claimed  that  his  words  have  a  meaning 
beyond  his  own  understanding  it  will  serve  only  to  remind 
us  that  the  same  has  often  been  true  of  literary  productions. 
If  he  employed  hackneyed  terms  or  transcribed  what  others 
before  had  written  he  was  as  I  believe  in  so  doing  uncon- 
sciously following  a  deeper  impulse  of  the  heart. 

He  used  the  name  of  God  in  the  most  natural  and  un- 
studied manner  because  his  belief  in  God  pervaded  his  being, 
and  he  referred  to  the  Divine  omniscience  as  the  spontaneous 
expression  of  the  faith  which  he  received  from  his  mother's 
instruction. 

I  am  not  claiming  for  this  fragment  of  a  Lincoln  manu-. 
script  any  direct  divine  inspiration.  But  I  cannot  regard 
and  treat  it  as  belonging  to  a  class  with  those  manuscripts 
which  simply  tell  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  early  educational  pursuits. 
It  is  certainly  more  significant  than  are  they  in  that  it  bears 
witness  to  his  early  matter  of  fact  trend  of  thought  which 
moved  steadily  in  the  direction  of  an  ever-increasing  compre- 
hension of  God. 

That  trend  of  thought  was  with  him  like  an  undeviating 
and  unhindered  approach  from  dawn  to  daylight,  and  resulted 
in  an  expansion  of  soul,  enlargement  of  spiritual  vision  and 


316     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

deepened  religious  experience,  until  he  seems  to  have  found 
and  rested  upon  a  satisfying  and  sustaining  faith. 

The  Scripture  admonition,  "Acquaint  now  thyself  with 
him  and  be  at  peace"  (Job  22:21),  was  one  to  which  he  gave 
constant  heed.  He  sought  to  know  God;  to  know  Him  as 
revealed  "in  the  heavens  above  and  in  the  earth  beneath;" 
to  know  Him  as  revealed  in  His  holy  Word ;  to  know  Him  as 
revealed  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  know  Him  as  revealed  in  per- 
sonal religious  experience.  This  continued  until  Lincoln  real- 
ized in  his  own  being  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise,  "Thou 
shalt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace,  whose  mind  is  stayed  on  thee 
because  he  trusteth  in  thee."  (Isa.  26:3.)  This  could  not 
be  otherwise  since  with  all  his  heart  and  soul  he  believed  in 

DIVINE  OMNIPOTENCE 

In  his  first  inaugural  address  delivered  March  4th,  1861, 
Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "If  the  Almighty  Ruler  of  Nations,  with 
His  eternal  truth  and  justice,  be  on  your  side  of  the  North, 
or  on  yours  of  the  South,  that  truth  and  that  justice  will 
surely  prevail  by  the  judgment  of  this  great  tribunal  of  the 
American  people."21 

In  reply  to  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Horace  Mann,  on  behalf 
of  a  class  of  children  in  whom  she  was  interested,  President 
Lincoln  on  April  5th,  1864,  sent  the  following  beautiful 
message:  "Please  tell  these  little  people  that  I  am  very  glad 
their  young  hearts  are  so  full  of  just  and  generous  sympathy, 
and  that,  while  I  have  not  the  power  to  grant  all  they  ask, 
I  trust  they  will  remember  that  God  has,  and  that,  as  it 
seems,  He  wills  to  do  it."22 

In  his  "Meditation  on  Divine  Will,"  which  is  supposed 
to  have  been  written  September  3Oth,  1862,  he  says:  "By 
His  (that  is  God's)  mere  great  power  on  the  minds  of  the 
now  contestants,  He  could  have  either  saved  or  destroyed  the 

21  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  183. 

22  Ibid.,  Vol.  X.,  pp.  68-69. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  317 

Union  without  a  human  contest.  Yet  the  contest  began.  And, 
having  begun,  He  could  give  the  final  victor?  to  either  side 
any  day."23 

These  declarations  of  Mr.  Lincoln  abundantly  justify  the 
following  comprehensive  and  significant  testimony  of  Hon. 
H.  C  Whitney,  who  knew  him  intimately  for  many  years: 
"Logically  and  inevitably,  therefore,  he  believed  in  God;  in 
His  superintending  providence;  in  His  intervention  in  mun- 
dane affairs  for  the  weal  of  the  race.  To  Him  he  made 
report ;  from  Him  he  took  counsel ;  at  His  hands  he  implored 
current  aid;  he  ascribed  glory  and  thanks  to  Him;  he  recog- 
nized Him  as  the  Supreme  Good.  God  came  to  him  moni- 
torially;  with  succor;  with  good  cheer;  with  victory.  He 
confounded  the  counsels  of  his  accusers;  He  made  the  wrath 
of  his  enemies  to  minister  to  his  good ;  His  direct  intervention 
the  President  experienced  in  many  ways.  Lincoln  acknowl- 
edged all  with  a  grateful  heart;  he  ordered  national  thanks- 
givings and  praises  on  every  suitable  occasion.  Therefore, 
he  had  more  proofs  to  warrant  his  belief,  and  believed  more 
implicitly  in  God,  and  approached  nearer  to  Him  than  any 
man  of  the  race  since  Moses,  the  lawgiver."24 

These  statements  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  belief  in  the  omnipo- 
tence of  God  are  not  more  clear  or  emphatic  than  are  those 
concerning 

DIVINE  OMNISCIENCE 

"The  all-wise  Creator,"  "An  all-wise  Providence,"  and 
similar  statements  appear  many  times  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  writ- 
ings, and  bear  witness  to  his  unquestioning  confidence  in  the 
infinite  knowledge  and  wisdom  of  God. 

On  September  4th,  1864,  at  a  time  when  according  to  his 
own  deliberate  statements  he  was  in  doubt  relative  to  his 
re-election,  in  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Eliza  P.  Gurney,  a  devout 
Christian  woman  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  he  said:  "The 

23  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  52. 

24  Lincoln,  the  Citizen,  pp.  203-204. 


318     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

purposes  of  the  Almighty  are  perfect,  and  must  prevail, 
though  we  erring  mortats  may  fail  to  accurately  perceive  them 
in  advance.  We  hoped  for  a  happy  termination  of  this  ter- 
rible war  long  before  this ;  but  God  knows  best,  and  has  ruled 
otherwise.  We  shall  yet  acknowledge  His  wisdom  and  our 
own  error  therein.  Meanwhile  we  must  work  earnestly  in 
the  best  light  He  gives  us,  trusting  that  so  working  still  con- 
duces to  the  great  ends  He  ordains.  Surely  He  intends  some 
great  good  to  follow  this  mighty  convulsion,  which  no  mortal 
could  make,  and  no  mortal  could  stay."25 

DIVINE  OMNIPRESENCE 

The  most  famous  Hebrew  poetry  never  rose  to  a  higher 
level  of  grandeur,  nor  did  it  ever  express  more  comfortingly 
the  thought  of  God's  environing  presence,  than  did  the  sub- 
limely simple  words  of  Abraham  Lincoln  spoken  on  the  nth 
of  February,  1861,  when  taking  leave  of  his  friends  and 
neighbors:  "Trusting  in  Him  who  can  go  with  me,  and  remain 
with  you,  and  be  everywhere  for  good,  let  us  confidently  hope 
that  all  will  yet  be  well."26 

These  words,  in  my  judgment,  are  worthy  of  being  put 
alongside  the  sublime  utterances  on  divine  omnipresence 
found  in  the  i3Qth  Psalm,  or  in  the  climax  of  Paul's  masterly 
oration  delivered  to  the  Athenians  on  Mars  Hill. 

25  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  pp.  215-216. 
w  Ibid.,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  1 10. 


I 


Ill 

LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH— CONTINUED 

N  the  forefront  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  religious  thinking  was 
his  belief  in 

THE  SAVIOUR'S  DEITY 


That  belief  was  expressed  by  him  in  clear  and  unequivocal 
language.  The  teachings  of  Scripture  relative  to  this  doctrine 
are  not  more  lucid  than  was  the  declaration  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
when,  in  that  wonderful  unbosoming  of  himself  to  Dr.  New- 
ton Bateman  a  few  weeks  before  his  first  election  as  President, 
as  Dr.  Holland  tells  us,  he  said:  "I  know  I  am  right,  for 
Christ  says  so,  and  Christ  is  God."  * 

A  few  weeks  later,  after  his  election  as  President  and 
before  his  inauguration,  he  said  to  his  lifelong  friend,  Judge 
Joseph  Gillispie:  "I  have  read  on  my  knees  the  story  of 
Gethsemane,  where  the  Son  of  God  prayed  in  vain  that  the 
cup  of  bitterness  might  pass  from  Him."2 

Perhaps  quite  as  significant  as  any  specific  statement  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  respecting  the  Saviour's  deity  was  his  oft-re- 
peated mention  of  Him  as  "our  Lord."  Again  and  again, 
in  speeches,  in  conversation  and  in  his  correspondence  does 
Mr.  Lincoln  thus  speak  of  the  Saviour;  and  there  was  always 
a  peculiar  manifestation  of  solemnity  and  reverence  when 
those  words  fell  from  his  lips.  Those  of  us  who  were  privi- 
leged to  hear  him  utter  those  words  will  never  doubt  his 
belief  that  Jesus  Christ  had  to  him  "all  the  religious  value 
of  God,"  as  a  modern  school  of  religious  thought  has  phrased 

1  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  238. 

2  H.  C.  Whitney,  Lincoln  the  Citizen,  p.  201. 

319 


320    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

it.  There  is  heart-melting  pathos  in  the  little  story  so  beauti- 
fully told  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ralph  Emerson,  two  Christian  peo- 
ple of  Rockford,  Illinois,  who  stood  perhaps  as  close  to  Mr. 
Lincoln  as  did  any  human  beings  outside  of  his  own  family. 
In  reporting  a  time  of  special  communing  they  say:  "During 
that  trip  we  walked  down  on  the  river,  and  the  conversation 
turned  on  a  trip  to  Palestine  and  Jerusalem.  Lincoln's  counte- 
nance seemed  at  once  to  light  up  and  he  exclaimed,  'Yes,  to 
tread  the  ground  the  Saviour  trod !'  Never  from  other  human 
lips  have  I  heard  the  word  'Saviour'  pronounced  with  such 
deep  earnestness.  Apparently  absorbed  with  the  two  thoughts 
of  the  evils  of  slavery  and  of  the  Saviour,  we  wandered  on  in 
silence  and  so  parted."3 

Mr.  Lincoln  also  believed  in 

THE  SAVIOUR'S  TEMPTATION 

The  story  of  that  mysterious  experience  of  the  Saviour 
which  is  a  part  of  the  New  Testament  record  would  naturally 
appeal  to  one  so  greatly  tried  as  was  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  it  may 
be  reasonably  claimed  that  had  he  made  no  reference  to  the 
matter  himself,  he  could  properly  be  regarded  as  believing  in 
that  story.  But  Mr.  Lincoln  has  made  such  inference  un- 
necessary by  his  own  declarations  relative  to  the  matter. 

In  his  letter  to  Dr.  Ide  and  Senator  Doolittle,  dated  May 
3Oth,  1864,  he  declared  that  the  conduct  of  some  Southern 
leaders  "contemned  and  insulted  God  and  His  Church  far 
more  than  did  Satan  whem  he  tempted  the  Saviour  with  the 
kingdoms  of  earth.  The  devil's  attempt  was  no  more  false, 
and  far  less  hypocritical.'1* 

Hard  to  understand  as  is  the  above  mentioned  event  in 
the  life  of  the  Saviour  it  is  certain  that  Mr.  Lincoln  accepted 
it  as  not  only  authentic  and  true  but  as  full  of  significance  and 
meaning.  With  all  his  heart  and  soul,  as  indicated  by  his  oft- 

3  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ralph  Emerson,  Personal  Recollections  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, pp.  10-12. 

4  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  109. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  321 

repeated  declarations,  Mr.  Lincoln  believed  in  the  supreme 
authority  of 

THE  SAVIOUR'S  TEACHINGS 

If  from  all  that  Mr.  Lincoln  has  written  and  said  there 
could  be  taken  that  which  he  quotes  from  the  teachings  of 
Christ,  and  his  own  interpretation  and  application  of  those 
teachings,  but  little  of  value  would  be  left.  Prominent  among 
his  many  quotations  from  the  words  of  Jesus  are  the  follow- 
ing: 

"A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand." 

This  quotation  was  made  not  only  the  keynote  of  that 
great  speech  at  Springfield  by  which  Mr.  Lincoln  first  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  nation,  but  also  expressed  the 
dominant  thought  in  his  subsequent  political  program. 

"Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do 
ye  even  so  unto  them." 

These  words  of  the  Saviour  were  by  Mr.  Lincoln  accepted 
as  the  "Golden  Rule"  which  makes  the  golden  life;  and  were 
by  him  adopted  as  a  full  and  satisfactory  statement  of  the 
portion  of  his  religious  creed  pertaining  to  human  conduct. 

"Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  offenses." 

This  declaration  of  Jesus  stands  out  in  the  second  in- 
augural address  as  the  marvelously  fitting  statement  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  distinguishing  belief  in  the  great  doctrine  of  divine 
retribution. 

"Let  us  judge  not  that  we  be  not  judged." 

By  these  words,  Mr.  Lincoln  in  that  inaugural  calls  for 
the  exercise  of  self-restraint.  After  referring  to  the  surprise 
which  might  be  felt  in  view  of  the  prayers  of  professed  Chris- 
tians for  divine  aid  in  their  efforts  to  maintain  slavery,  he 
virtually  admonished  himself  and  others  to  refrain  from  hasty 
and  uncharitable  judgment.  This  seems  the  more  significant 
when  it  is  remembered  that  several  months  previous  to  this 
occasion,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  moved  to  express  with  sever- 
ity his  opinion  of  the  conduct  of  professed  followers  of  Christ, 


322     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

who  not  only  sought  to  enslave  their  fellows  but  had  gone  to 
war  against  their  government  in  order  that  they  might  pro- 
tect and  promote  slavery,  he  said:  "But  I  must  forbear, 
remembering  that  it  is  also  said:  ']udge  not  that  ye  be  not 
judged.' " 

Very  beautiful  and  instructive  is  Mr.  Lincoln's  reference 
to 

"The  lost  sheep." 

The  significance  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  reference  to  this  parable 
of  the  Saviour,  and  his  designating  of  Judge  Douglas  as  fit- 
tingly represented  by  the  lost  and  endangered  sheep,  should  be 
considered  in  connection  with  the  Saviour's  own  interpreta- 
tion of  this  parable  when  he  said:  "Even  so  there  shall  be 
joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth  more  than  over 
ninety  and  nine  righteous  persons  which  need  no  repentance."3 

Among  the  numberless  citations  that  might  be  given  are 
the  following: 

"By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 

"He  notes  the  falling  sparrow." 

"The  hairs  of  your  head  are  numbered." 

As  early  as  1850,  in  a  tender  letter  to  his  stepbrother, 
written  to  be  read  to  his  own  dying  father,  Mr.  Lincoln 
quoted  the  last  two  of  these  sayings  of  Jesus  in  proof  of  the 
Heavenly  Father's  tenderness  and  minute,  supervising  care. 

Still  earlier,  namely,  in  1842,  in  his  famous  temperance 
speech  Mr.  Lincoln  refers  to  the  "unpardonable  sin,"  for  the 
purpose  of  expressing  the  conviction  that  such  was  not 
chargeable  to  the  drunkard;  but  that  he  was  an  object  of 
divine  compassion  and  of  tender  mercy.  The  text 

"Be  ye  perfect  even  as  your  Father,  which  is  in  heaven, 
is  perfect," 

was  quoted  by  Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  statement  of  the  exalted  aims 
which  should  characterize  every  Christian. 

During  the  period  between  his  first  election  and  his  in- 
auguration as  President,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  urged  by  some 

6  Matt.  15:7. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  323 

anxious  friends  throughout  the  nation  to  make  a  public  mani- 
festo of  his  principles  and  purposes  that  would  quiet  the  ap- 
prehensions of  the  Southern  people.  To  this  he  replied  by 
calling  attention  to  the  many  statements  he  already  had  made, 
and,  having  driven  home  the  nail  he  clinched  it  by  saying: 

"If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither  will  they 
be  persuaded  though  one  rose  from  the  dead."6 

Immensely  significant  is  this  quotation  from  that  dramatic 
and  searching  illustration  employed  by  the  Saviour  to  repre- 
sent the  sin  and  the  danger  of  human  incorrigibility.  The 
Saviour's  reference  to 

"The  blood  of  righteous  Abel,"  and  His  declaration  that 

"He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me," 
were  most  appropriately  quoted  by  Mr.  Lincoln  not  only  to 
express  his  belief  in  the  Saviour's  teachings  but  also  to  make 
effective  the  instruction  he  was  seeking  to  impart. 

"Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  me." 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  by  these  words  Mr.  Lincoln  re- 
buked some  thoughtless  boys  for  their  unkindness  to  one  of 
their  number.  But  why  multiply  examples?  The  speeches, 
letters  and  recorded  conversations  of  Lincoln  teem  with  al- 
lusions to  the  Saviour's  teachings,  and  the  use  made  of  them 
affords  indubitable  evidence  that  he  accepted  them  as  divinely 
inspired.  Mr.  Lincoln  believed  also  in 

THE  SAVIOUR'S  MIRACLES 

His  reference  to  the  miracle  of  the  loaves  and  fishes,  and 
to  the  case  of  the  Gadarene  swineherder  who  was  cured, 
clothed  and  brought  into  his  right  mind,  very  clearly  indicate 
his  belief  in  the  miracle-working  power  of  Christ ;  and  doubt- 
less he  regarded  with  unquestioning  acceptance  all  the  other 
miracles  of  the  New  Testament. 

He  also  believed  in 
6  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  64. 


324     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

THE  SAVIOUR'S  SUFFERING  AND  DEATH 

There  was  probably  no  time  in  all  his  sad,  weary  life  when 
his  sufferings  were  so  exquisite  and  so  devoid  of  all  allevia- 
tion as  during  that  period  to  which  reference  already  has  been 
made,  between  his  first  election  as  President  and  his  inaugura- 
tion. Utterly  unable  to  lift  a  hand  to  avert  or  delay  the 
calamity  he  saw  sweeping  down  upon  the  nation  he  could  but 
suffer  in  silence  looking  on  from  the  distance,  while  the  fires 
were  rapidly  kindling  to  consume  the  nation.  And  to  his 
mind  it  was  not  unfitting  that  he  should  refer,  as  he  did  in 
conversation  with  Judge  Gillispie,  to  the  Saviour's  sufferings 
in  Gethsemane,  as  illustrative  of  his  own  inability  to  find 
relief  from  the  agony  through  which  he  was  passing. 

In  his  notes  prepared  in  1850  for  a  lecture  on  Niagara 
Falls  he  refers  to  the  fact  that  the  wonderful  cataract  was  in 
activity  "when  Christ  suffered  on  the  cross."  Concerning  the 
fundamental  truth  of  Christ's  atoning  sacrifice  Abraham  Lin- 
coln never  xf  altered.  It  sometimes  may  have  seemed  to  him  an 
unfathomable  mystery  as  it  does  to  all;  but  his  cast  of  mind 
and  the  methods  by  which  he  gained  his  wonderful  knowledge 
of  law,  enabled  him  to  understand  in  some  measure  the  phil- 
osophy of  the  divine  plan  for  human  salvation,  and  to  give 
atonement  for  sin  its  necessary  and  proper  place.  If  he  did 
not  frequently  refer  to  this  doctrine,  that  may  merely  indicate 
how  inseparable  from  the  Christian  system  he  regarded  it. 
Believing  in  the  gospel  story  of  the  life,  death  and  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ,  and  speaking  of  Him  with  the  greatest  tender- 
ness "as  the  good  Saviour"  he  could  no  more  doubt  the  doc- 
trine of  atonement  than  he  could  disbelieve  in  his  own  exist- 
ence. And  fully  characteristic  of  his  habits  and  style,  was  the 
course  he  pursued  in  treating  his  belief  in  the  atonement  as  a 
matter  of  course,  and  in  referring  to  it  only  as  occasions  made 
it  necessary. 

But  there  were  occasions  on  which  Mr.  Lincoln's  declara- 
tions concerning  this  matter  were  clear  and  comprehensive. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  325 

Those  who  would  fain  make  him  out  an  unbeliever,  have  re- 
peated with  tireless  industry  the  falsehood  respecting  his  hav- 
ing, in  early  life,  written  a  manuscript  against  Christianity 
which  a  friend  snatched  from  his  hands  and  cast  into  the  fire. 
This  story,  which  could  have  originated  only  in  malice  and 
concealed  revenge,  has  been  shown  to  have  no  other  founda- 
tion than  the  burning  of  a  letter  which  referred  to  matters  of 
rivalry  in  love.  And  instead  of  having  written  an  attack  upon 
Christianity,  it  has  been  proven  beyond  question,  that  in  1833, 
the  time  referred  to,  Mr.  Lincoln  while  investigating  religious 
matters  prepared  with  great  care  an  article  on  the  compassion 
and  mercy  of  God,  in  which  he  claimed  that  all  the  evil  conse- 
quences of  Adam's  transgression  found  a  full  and  sufficient 
remedy  in  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ.  "As  in  Adam 
all  die,  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive,"  was  the  passage 
of  Scripture  by  which  the  young  lawyer  sought  to  prove  the 
perfect  efficacy  of  the  work  of  atonement.  That  passage  of 
Scripture  was  commonly  quoted  in  those  days,  and  by  many 
teachers  at  a  later  period,  as  defining  the  extent  of  the  work 
of  atonement ;  and  it  was  undoubtedly  quoted  by  Mr.  Lincoln 
with  that  understanding. 

I  am  not  seeking,  however,  to  state  definitely  the  extent  to 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  believed  the  work  of  atonement;  it  is 
sufficient  to  know  that  with  all  his  heart  and  soul  he  believed 
that  Christ  "tasted  death  for  every  man." 

The  foregoing  statement  relating  to  Lincoln's  manuscript 
on  Christianity  is  borne  out  by  a  letter  of  Mr.  Menter  Graham, 
who  was  upon  the  most  intimate  terms  with  Mr.  Lincoln  from 
the  time  of  his  coming  to  Illinois  until  his  departure  to  Wash- 
ington, as  President,  in  which  he  thus  testifies:  "Abraham 
Lincoln  was  living  at  my  house  at  New  Salem  going  to  school, 
studying  English  Grammar  and  surveying  in  the  year  1833. 
One  morning  he  said  to  me,  'Graham,  what  do  you  think  about 
the  anger  of  the  Lord?'  I  replied,  'I  believe  the  Lord  was 
never  angry  or  mad  and  never  would  be;  that  His  loving 
kindness  endureth  forever.'  Said  Lincoln,  'I  have  a  little 


326     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

manuscript  written  which  I  will  show  you,'  and  stated  that  he 
thought  of  having  it  published.  Offering  it  to  me  he  said  he 
had  never  shown  it  to  any  one  and  still  thought  of  having  it 
published.  The  size  of  the  manuscript  was  about  a  half  a 
quire  of  foolscap  paper,  written  in  a  very  plain  hand  on  the 
subject  of  Christianity.  The  commencement  of  it  was  some- 
thing respecting  the  God  of  the  Universe  never  being  excited, 
mad  or  angry.  I  had  the  manuscript  in  my  possession  some 
week  or  ten  days.  I  have  read  many  books  on  the  subject  of 
theology  and  I  do  not  think  in  point  of  perspicuity  and  plain- 
ness of  reasoning  I  ever  read  one  to  surpass  it.  I  remember 
well  his  argument.  He  took  the  passage,  'As  in  Adam  all 
die,  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive/  and  followed  up  with 
the  proposition  that  whatever  the  breach  or  injury  of  Adam's 
transgression  to  the  human  race  was,  which  no  doubt  was 
very  great,  was  made  just  and  right  by  the  atonement  of 
Christ."7 

In  1859,  twenty-six  years  after  the  writing  of  that  re- 
markable production,  being  the  year  following  the  great  Lin- 
coln-Douglas debates,  and  the  year  preceding  Mr.  Lincoln's 
election  as  President,  Mr.  Isaac  Cogsdale,  of  Illinois,  called 
upon  Mr.  Lincoln,  at  his  office  in  Springfield,  and  frankly 
made  inquiry  concerning  his  religious  belief.  Mr.  Lincoln's 
reply  was  based,  as  he  said  at  the  time,  upon  his  understanding 
of  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  and  among  other  things,  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Cogsdale,  he  said:  "All  that  was  lost  by  the 
transgression  of  Adam  was  made  good  by  Atonement.  All 
that  was  lost  by  the  Fall  was  made  good  by  the  Sacrifice; 
and  he  added  this  remark,  that  punishment  being  a  provision 
of  the  gospel  system  he  was  not  sure  but  the  world  would  be 
better  if  a  little  more  punishment  was  preached  by  our  minis- 
ters and  not  so  much  pardon  for  sin.  Lincoln  told  me  he 
never  took  part  in  the  argument  or  discussion  of  theological 
questions."8 

T  Lincoln  Scrap-book,  p.  64. 
» Ibid. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  327 

The  following  story  related  by  Mr.  F.  B.  Carpenter,  the 
artist  who  painted  the  picture  of  President  Lincoln  and  his 
Cabinet,  considering  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  illus- 
trates the  readiness  with  which  Mr.  Lincoln  summoned  Bible 
doctrines  to  aid  him  in  the  performance  of  official  duty,  ac- 
cording to  the  promptings  of  his  loving  heart.  Mr.  Carpenter 
says: 

My  friend,  the  Hon.  Mr.  Kellogg  of  New  York,  was  sit- 
ting in  his  room  at  his  boarding  house  one  evening,  when  one 
of  his  constituents  appeared — a  white-headed  old  man — who 
had  come  to  Washington  in  great  trouble,  to  seek  the  aid  of 
his  representative  in  behalf  of  his  son.  His  story  was  this: 
"The  young  man  had  formerly  been  very  dissipated.  During 
an  absence  from  home  a  year  or  two  previous  to  the  war,  he 
enlisted  in  the  regular  army,  and  after  serving  six  months, 
deserted.  Returning  to  his  father,  who  knew  nothing  of  this, 
he  reformed  his  habits,  and  when  the  war  broke  out,  entered 
heart  and  soul  into  the  object  of  raising  a  regiment  in  his 
native  county,  and  was  subsequently  elected  one  of  its  officers. 
He  had  proved  an  efficient  officer,  distinguishing  himself  par- 
ticularly on  one  occasion,  in  a  charge  across  a  bridge,  when 
he  was  severely  wounded, — his  colonel  being  killed  by  his  side. 
Shortly  after  this,  he  came  in  contact  with  one  of  his  old  com- 
panions in  the  'regular'  service,  who  recognized  him,  and  de- 
clared his  purpose  of  informing  against  him. 

"Overwhelmed  with  mortification,  the  young  man  pro- 
cured a  furlough  and  returned  home,  revealing  the  matter  to 
his  father,  and  declaring  his  purpose  never  to  submit  to  an 
arrest, — 'he  would  die  first.' ' 

"In  broken  tones  the  old  man  finished  his  statement,  say- 
ing: 'Can  you  do  anything  for  us,  Judge? — it  is  a  hard,  hard 
case!'  'I  will  see  about  that,'  replied  the  representative,  put- 
ting on  his  hat;  'wait  here  until  I  return.'  He  went  im- 
mediately to  the  White  House,  and  fortunately  finding  Mr. 
Lincoln  alone,  they  sat  down  together,  and  he  repeated  the 
old  man's  story.  The  President  made  no  demonstration  of 


328     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

particular  interest  until  the  Judge  reached  the  description  of 
the  charge  across  the  bridge  and  the  wound  received.  'Do 
you  say/  he  interrupted,  'that  the  young  man  was  wounded?' 
'Yes,'  replied  the  Congressman,  'badly.'  'Then  he  had  shed 
his  blood  for  his  country,'  responded  Mr.  Lincoln,  musingly. 
'Kellogg,'  he  continued,  brightening  up,  'isn't  there  something 
in  the  Scripture  about  the  shedding  of  blood  being  the  remis- 
sion of  sins?'  'Guess  you  are  about  right  there,'  replied  the 
Judge.  'It  is  a  good  point,  and  there  is  no  going  behind  it,' 
rejoined  the  President ;  and  taking  up  his  pen,  another  'pardon' 
— this  time  without  'oath/  condition,  or  reserve — was  added 
to  the  records  of  the  War  Office."9 

Somehow  there  was  a  close  bond  of  fellowship  between 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  Father  Chiniquy,  and  in  a  prolonged  inter- 
view with  that  devoted  friend,  Mr.  Lincoln  is  reported  to 
have  given  utterance  to  the  following  sentiments:  "Why  did 
God  Almighty  refuse  to  Moses  the  favor  of  crossing  the 
Jordan,  and  entering  the  Promised  Land  ?  It  was  on  account 
of  the  nation's  sins!  That  law  of  divine  retribution  and  jus- 
tice, by  which  one  must  suffer  for  another,  is  surely  a  terrible 
mystery.  But  it  is  a  fact  which  no  man  who  has  any  intelli- 
gence and  knowledge  can  deny.  Moses,  who  knew  that  law, 
though  he  probably  did  not  understand  it  better  than  we 
do,  calmly  says  to  his  people,  'God  was  wroth  with  me  for 
your  sakes.' 

"But  though  we  do  not  understand  that  mysterious  and 
terrible  law,  we  find  it  written  in  letters  of  tears  and  blood 
wherever  we  go.  We  do  not  read  a  single  page  of  history 
without  finding  undeniable  traces  of  its  existence. 

"Where  is  the  mother  who  has  not  shed  real  tears  and  suf- 
fered real  tortures,  for  her  children's  sake? 

"Who  is  the  good  king,  the  worthy  emperor,  the  gifted 
chieftain,  who  has  not  suffered  unspeakable  mental  agonies, 
or  even  death,  for  his  people's  sake? 

"Is  not  our  Christian  religion  the  highest  expression  of 
9  Six  Months  in  the  White  House,  pp.  318-319. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  329 

the  wisdom,  mercy  and  love  of  God  ?  But  what  is  Christianity 
if  not  the  very  incarnation  of  that  eternal  law  of  divine  justice 
in  our  humanity? 

"When  I  look  on  Moses,  alone  silently  dying  on  the  Mount 
of  Pisgah,  I  see  that  law  in  one  of  its  most  sublime  human 
manifestations,  and  I  am  filled  with  admiration  and  awe. 

"But  when  I  consider  that  law  of  justice,  and  expiation 
in  the  death  of  the  Just,  the  divine  Son  of  Mary,  on  the 
Mount  of  Calvary,  I  remain  mute  in  my  adoration.  The 
spectacle  of  the  Crucified  One  which  is  before  my  eyes  is  more 
than  sublime,  it  is  divine!  Moses  died  for  his  people's  sake, 
but  Christ  died  for  the  whole  world's  sake !  Both  died  to  ful- 
fill the  same  eternal  law  of  the  divine  justice,  though  in  a 
different  measure."10 

Lincoln  believed  in  the  doctrine  of 

THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

The  most  remarkable  feature  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  religious 
life  was  his  faith  in,  and  constant  reliance  upon,  the  Holy 
Spirit.  The  third  person  of  the  Holy  Trinity  he  always  and 
properly  regarded  as  the  executive  of  the  Godhead.  He  seems 
to  have  kept  constantly  in  mind  the  truth  so  clearly  taught  by 
the  Scriptures  and  by  the  symbols  of  the  Church  that  "what- 
ever God  does  He  does  by  the  Spirit."  All  his  literary  works, 
whether  carefully  or  hurriedly  written,  as  well  as  his  spoken 
words,  abound  in  direct  or  indirect  references  to  the  Holy 
Spirit.  They  are  also  dominated  by  a  sense  of  the  Spirit's 
presence  and  leading.  Nothing  of  value  concerning  religious 
matters  would  be  left  in  his  literary  productions  if  those  por- 
tions relating  to  the  Holy  Spirit  were  removed.  His  refer- 
ences to  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  and  to  Jesus  Christ,  would 
be  utterly  without  significance  apart  from  his  declared  or  un- 
derstood faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  so  certain  as  to  be 
universally  admitted,  that  Abraham  Lincoln  lived  and  wrought 

10  Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  pp.  706-711. 


330     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

in  constant  dependence  upon  God.  And  equally  certain  is  it 
that  all  that  he  hoped  to  realize  from  the  favor  of  God, 
whether  in  the  gift  of  needed  wisdom  or  guidance  for  which 
he  prayed  so  devoutly,  in  strength  and  ability  to  bear  his 
burdens  and  perform  his  tasks,  or  in  divine  guidance  in  coun- 
sel and  judgment,  help  in  battle  upon  sea  and  land,  and  in  all 
upon  which  he  asked  or  desired  the  favor  of  God,  his  expecta- 
tion was  in  all  cases  that  the  desired  favors  if  granted  would 
be  ministered  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  expectations  of  divine  help,  through  the  Holy 
Spirit,  were  thoroughly  scriptural  and  were  sustained  by  his 
familiarity  with  the  declarations  of  the  Bible.  He  always  sus- 
tained a  scriptural  attitude  when  seeking  the  aid  from  heaven, 
making  his  appeal  for  divine  help  in  a  spirit  of  humility  and 
v/ith  a  sense  of  utter  helplessness. 

The  spirit  which  was  dominant  in  all  his  life  found  strik- 
ing expression  when,  as  he  left  his  home  city  for  his  great  and 
final  work  he  expressed  his  sense  of  utter  helplessness  without 
divine  aid.  He  had  a  most  exalted  opinion  of  the  American 
people.  He  believed  in  their  patriotism,  their  loyalty  to  the 
government,  their  wisdom  and  their  unsurpassed  courage; 
and  while  proposing  to  make  the  most  of  their  strength  and 
help,  his  hope  of  success  rested  wholly  in  the  favor  of  God; 
and  that  divine  favor  he  expected  to  receive  through  such 
ministrations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  exigencies  of  his  life 
made  necessary. 

"The  stars  in  their  courses  fought  against  Sisera"  (Judges 
5:20),  and  Abraham  Lincoln  who  was  familiar  with  this  dec- 
laration of  Scripture  knew  that  the  Almighty  was  able  to 
marshal  the  forces  of  the  celestial  world  to  aid  His  own 
people.  "And  the  Lord  thundered  with  a  great  thunder  on 
that  day  upon  the  Philistines  and  discomfited  them"  (I 
Sam.  7:10),  and  Abraham  Lincoln  accepted  this  as  a  decla- 
ration of  God's  purpose  to  call  into  activity  the  elements  of 
nature  for  the  accomplishment  of  His  high  purposes.  He 
believed  in  the  power  and  purpose  of  God,  by  His  Holy  Spirit, 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  331 

to  marshal  the  animate  hosts  of  the  heavens,  and  the  inanimate 
forces  of  nature  as  He  did  in  ancient  times  for  the  defeat  of 
those  who  wickedly  fought  against  His  cause  and  His  peo- 
ple. He  believed  that  like  power  would  be  brought  into  activ- 
ity, if  necessary,  to  save  the  nation  from  destruction.  But 
his  chief  reliance  was  upon  the  helpful  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  upon  the  hearts  and  minds  of  the  children  of  men.  He 
did  not  expect  any  interference  with  the  power  to  originate 
the  activities  of  the  human  mind,  nor  with  the  freedom  of 
choice  which  is  a  matter  of  individual  consciousness,  and 
which  also  is  the  ground  for  personal  responsibility.  But  he 
knew  that  in  the  exercise  of  freedom  of  thought  and  of  choice 
we  are  subject  to  the  influences  of  the  Divine  Spirit  and  are 
upheld  and  sustained  by  divine  power.  With  unquestioning 
confidence  he  believed  that  God's  Spirit  illuminates  the  human 
mind  and  influences  for  good  those  who  yield  to  divine  leader- 
ship. 

Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  look  for  any  miraculous  revelation  of 
the  Divine  Will  but  he  did  confidently  expect  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  would  help  him  to  perform  his  allotted  task  clearly  in- 
terpreting the  mind  of  God.  Hence,  he  studied  God's  Word 
with  diligence  and  listened  with  constant  attention  to  the  voice 
of  the  Spirit  within  his  heart,  that  he  might  be  divinely  led. 
He  believed  that  wisdom  needed  for  the  performance  of 
every  duty  would  be  administered  to  him  by  the  direct  in- 
fluences of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  so  fully  were  his  expectations 
in  this  regard  realized  that  many  of  his  official  acts  which  were 
ascribed  to  his  superb  genius  were  by  him  declared  to  be  sug- 
gested by  the  Divine  Spirit  in  answer  to  prayer. 

In  a  conversation  with  Dr.  Robert  Browne,  Mr.  Lincoln 
made  the  following  extended  statements  respecting  his  own 
experiences  of  the  leadings  of  the  Holy  Spirit: 

"When  I  set  my  mind  at  work  to  find  some  way  of  evading 
or  declining  a  journey,  a  speech  or  service,  instead  of  my  own 
spirit  a  something  stronger  says,  'You  must  go.  You  must  not 


332     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

disappoint  these  people,  who  have  given  you  their  confidence 
as  they  have  no  other  man.' 

"I  am  a  full  believer  that  God  knows  what  He  wants  a 
man  to  do,  that  which  pleases  Him.  It  is  never  well  with  the 
man  who  heeds  it  not.  I  talk  to  God.  My  mind  seems  relieved 
when  I  do,  and  a  way  is  suggested,  that  if  it  is  not  a  super- 
natural one,  it  is  always  one  that  comes  at  the  time,  and  accords 
with  a  common-sense  view  of  the  work.  I  take  up  the  common 
one  of  making  a  speech  somewhere  or  other.  These  come  al- 
most every  day.  I  get  ready  for  them  as  occasion  seems  to  re- 
quire. I  arrange  the  facts,  make  a  few  notes,  some  little 
memorandums  like  those  you  have  seen  so  often  and  are  so 
familiar  with.  I  take  them,  and  as  far  as  facts  are  concerned 
confine  myself  to  them,  and  rarely  make  any  particular  prepa- 
ration for  feeling,  sympathy  or  purely  sentimental  thoughts. 

"When  my  plans  for  the  discussion  are  made,  and  the  foun- 
dations are  laid,  I  find  that  I  am  done  and  all  at  sea  unless  I 
arouse  myself  to  the  spirit  and  merits  of  my  cause.  With  my 
mind  directed  to  the  necessity,  I  catch  the  fire  of  it,  the  spirit, 
or  the  inspiration.  I  see  it  reflected  in  the  open  faces  and 
throbbing  hearts  before  me.  This  impulse  comes  and  goes, 
and  again  returns  and  seems  to  take  possession  of  me.  The 
influence,  whatever  it  is,  has  taken  effect.  It  is  contagious; 
the  people  fall  into  the  stream  and  follow  me  in  the  inspiration, 
or  what  is  beyond  my  understanding.  This  seems  evidence  to 
me,  a  weak  man,  that  God  himself  is  leading  my  way."11 

The  following  from  Judge  Whitney  is  striking  and  in- 
structive : 

"It  is  due  to  myself  to  state  that  I  have  not  been  betrayed 
into  a  vain  laudatory  of  my  subject,  because  the  general  con- 
sensus of  the  world's  opinion  so  directs ;  but  that,  independent 
of  all  contemporary  opinion,  as  early  as  1856,  I  conceived,  and 
did  not  hesitate  to  express,  the  opinion,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
a  paragon,  and  prodigy  of  intellectual  and  moral  force.  Others, 
associated  with  us,  deemed  him  superlatively  great,  but  still 
11  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Men  of  War  Times,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  194-195. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  333 

merely  human.  I  went  further ;  my  view  was  definite  and  pro- 
nounced, that  Lincoln  was  inspired  of  God:  that  he  was  or- 
dained for  a  greater  than  merely  human  mission ;  and  I  used 
to  avow  this  belief  as  early  as  that  time. 

"Swett  said  to  me  at  Danville  one  evening,  despairingly 
after  Lincoln  had  made  a  political  speech:  'Of  what  use  is  it 
for  fellows  like  Vorhees  and  me  to  try  to  make  speeches? 
Whenever  I  hear  Lincoln,  I  feel  as  if  I  never  should  try  to 
make  a  political  speech  again/ 

"I  tried  to  comfort  him  by  the  reflection  that  'the  Deity  in- 
spired Lincoln,  and,  of  course,  he  could  not  hope  to  match  the 
Divine.' 

"I  had  no  idea  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  mission;  I  then  thought 
he  was  the  greatest  man  I  ever  saw;  I  now  know  that  God 
worked  in  him  to  will  and  to  do,  of  His  own  good  pleasure."12 

The  disclosure  by  Mr.  Lincoln  of  his  dependence  upon 
spiritual  guidance  and  inspiration  in  his  preparation  and  de- 
livery of  public  speeches,  as  stated  by  him  in  his  interview 
with  Dr.  Robert  Browne,  explains  in  part  what  is  spoken  of 
as  a  "miracle"  in  the  following  by  Bishop  McDowell,  one  of 
the  most  gifted  and  eloquent  of  modern  pulpit  orators: 

"At  Gettysburg,  Edward  Everett  spoke  magnificently 
through  many  thousand  noble  words — a  masterly  oration. 
Lincoln  spoke  three  minutes,  two  hundred  and  fifty  words,  and 
this  is  the  principal  address  of  that  day  or  many  days.  The 
second  inaugural  is  only  seven  hundred  and  fifty  words  in 
length,  but  while  liberty  lasts,  while  charity  survives  among 
men,  while  patriotism  lives  under  any  flag,  these  few  words 
will  be  on  men's  lips  like  prophecy,  psalm  or  gospel.  How  did 
this  man,  born  in  poverty,  reared  in  poverty,  untrained  in  any 
schools,  come  to  do  this  miracle?  It  is  not  a  trick  of  expres- 
sion, it  is  the  miracle  of  supreme  truth,  supremely  stated."13 

Mr.  Lincoln  believed  in  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  One  who 
ministers  divine  aid  to  individual  human  beings,  and  the  reali- 

12  Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln,  p.  591. 

13  The  Tributes  of  a  Century,  p.  369. 


334     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

zation  of  his  need  of  such  ministration  caused  him  to  make 
almost  countless  requests  for  the  prayers  of  Christian  people 
for  himself.  These  requests  came  welling  up  from  his  over- 
burdened heart,  and  showed  that  he  was  reaching  out  for  that 
aid  of  the  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  of  power  which  he  felt  and 
declared  was  indispensable  to  the  successful  accomplishment 
of  his  divinely  appointed  work.  And  when  he  asked  ministers 
of  the  gospel  and  other  church  people  to  kneel  with  him  in 
prayer,  as  he  often  did  in  the  White  House,  it  was  a  confession 
of  his  faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  One  by  whom  all  needed 
divine  grace  is  ministered.  Such  requests  for  prayer  are  sig- 
nificant only  when  they  are  known  to  include  such  an  explicit 
or  implicit  faith. 

To  L.  E.  Chittenden,  Register  of  the  Treasury,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln said:  "It  makes  me  stronger  and  more  confident  to  know 
that  all  Christians  are  praying  for  our  success."14 

Mr.  Lincoln  not  only  thus  freely  confessed  his  realization 
of  utter  and  constant  dependence  upon  God,  but  he  freely  be- 
lieved and  freely  confessed  that  he  was  divinely  guided  and 
aided  in  his  choice  of  others  to  the  work.  His  unyielding  de- 
mand that  Mr.  Fessenden  should  accept  the  position  of  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  at  a  financial  crisis  in  the  nation's  his- 
tory, was  based  upon  his  claim  that  he  was  divinely  guided  in 
making  that  appointment.  When  the  distinguished  senator 
from  Maine  emphatically  and  almost  indignantly  declared  to 
Mr.  Lincoln  that  he  could  not  and  would  not  accept  the  posi- 
tion, Mr.  Lincoln  calmly  replied:  "Last  night  I  saw  my  way 
clear  to  appoint  you  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  I  do  not  think 
you  have  any  right  to  tell  me  you  will  not  accept  the  place.  I 
believe  that  the  suppression  of  the  Rebellion  has  been  decreed 
by  a  Higher  Power  than  any  represented  by  us,  and  that  the 
Almighty  is  using  His  means  to  that  end.  You  are  one  of 
them.  It  is  as  much  your  duty  to  accept  as  it  is  mine  to  ap- 
point."15 

14  Recollections  of  President  Lincoln  and  his  Administration,  p.  450. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  382. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  335 

So  confident  was  Mr.  Lincoln  that  he  had  been  divinely 
guided  in  this  matter,  that  he  said  to  Mr.  Fessenden:  "Your 
nomination  is  now  on  the  way  from  the  State  Department,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  it  will  be  here.  It  will  be  in  the  Senate  at 
noon,  you  will  be  immediately  and  unanimously  confirmed,  and 
by  one  o'clock  today  you  must  be  signing  warrants  in  the 
treasury."16 

This  entire  program  which  Mr.  Lincoln  confidently  claimed 
was  divinely  prepared  and  announced  to  him  was  carried  out, 
and  Mr.  Fessenden  at  once  entered  upon  his  serivce  as  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  in  which  his  achievements  fully  justified 
Mr.  Lincoln's  claim  that  the  statesman  from  Maine  was  God's 
choice  for  that  position. 

To  Mr.  Chittenden  President  Lincoln  afterwards  said:  "I 
am  satisfied  that  when  the  Almighty  wants  me  to  do  or  not  to 
do  a  particular  thing,  He  finds  a  way  of  letting  me  know  it. 
I  am  confident  that  it  is  His  design  to  restore  the  nation.  He 
will  do  it  in  His  own  good  time.  We  should  obey  and  not 
oppose  His  way.  .  .  .  All  we  have  to  do  is  to  trust  the 
Almighty  and  keep  right  on  obeying  His  orders  and  executing 
His  will."17 

Mr.  Lincoln  believed  that  his  duty  might  be  made  known 
to  him  through  the  revelations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  given  to 
others.  He  was  familiar  with  the  Scripture  records  of  many 
such  disclosures  of  the  divine  will,  and  therefore  he  was  ever 
alert  for  some  message  which  might  be  brought  to  him  from 
some  faithful  servant  of  the  Most  High.  He  often  sought 
counsel  of  his  pastor,  Rev.  Dr.  Gurley,  and  of  other  ministers  in 
whom  he  had  special  confidence.  Dr.  Gurley  was  the  first 
person  whom  he  consulted  respecting  the  Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation, and  that  famous  measure  as  it  went  to  the  public  and 
to  history,  contained  important  portions  suggested  by  that  able 
and  wise  man  of  God.  During  all  of  his  Presidency,  it  was  Mr. 
Lincoln's  uniform  custom  to  give  careful  consideration  to  the 

18  Recollections  of  President  Lincoln  and  his  Administration,  p.  382. 
17  Ibid.,  pp.  448-450. 


336     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

advice  and  counsels  of  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  to  the 
decisions  of  religious  bodies. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  great  interest  in  the  proposition  of  Colonel 
Jaquess  to  enter  upon  and  prosecute  a  peace  mission  was  be- 
cause of  his  conviction  that  God  might  be  thus  seeking  to  guide 
and  aid  him  in  his  difficult  work,  by  the  illumination  of  His 
Holy  Spirit  upon  the  heart  and  mind  of  one  of  His  chosen  mes- 
sengers. 

A  full  account  of  the  Jaquess  Mission  is  given  elsewhere  in 
this  work,  and  this  reference  to  that  little  known  but  very 
remarkable  portion  of  history  is  here  given  to  illustrate  Mr. 
Lincoln's  constant  reliance  upon  the  favor  of  God  ministered 
through  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

In  Mr.  Lincoln's  proclamations  for  days  of  Thanksgiving, 
humiliation  and  prayer  there  are  found  full  and  instructive 
declarations  of  his  belief  in  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Whatever  in  those  proclamations  the  President  requested  the 
people  to  ask  the  Almighty  to  accomplish  could  be  wrought 
only  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  We  are  not,  however,  left  to  any 
inference  respecting  this  matter  for,  as  will  be  seen,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln designates  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  One  by  whom  the  desired 
results  are  to  be  accomplished. 

The  dates  of  those  Proclamations  and  the  volumes  and 
pages  of  "Complete  Works"  where  they  are  published  are  as 
follows: 

August      12,  1861   Vol.  VI.,  p.     342 


October       3,  1863  

,  Vol.  IX.,  pp.   151-153 

Tulv             7.  1864  . 

Vol.    X.,  pp.   149-150 

September  3,   1864  

,  Vol.      X.,    pp.    211-212 

October     20.   1864  . 

.    Vol.      X.,    p.      24  * 

The  following  is  a  brief  summary  of  the  objects  for  which 
President  Lincoln,  in  his  Proclamations,  requested  the  people 
to  pray: 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  337 

"That  we  may  be  spared  further  punishment. 

That  our  armies  may  be  blessed  and  made  effectual. 

That  law  and  order  and  peace  may  be  re-established. 

That  prayers  may  bring  down  plentiful  blessings. 

For  pardon  of  national  sins. 

That  by  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  the  anger  of  the 
insurgents  may  be  subdued. 

That  the  hearts  of  the  insurgents  may  be  changed. 

To  visit  with  tender  care  and  consolation  those  who  suffer 
in  mind,  body  or  estate. 

To  lead  the  whole  nation  to  union  and  fraternal  peace. 

To  protect  soldiers  and  other  leaders. 

To  comfort  the  sick,  wounded  and  prisoners. 

To  bring  blessings  for  the  orphans  and  widows. 

To  uphold  the  government. 

To  heal  the  wounds  of  the  nation. 

To  bring  peace,  harmony,  tranquillity  and  union. 

To  have  compassion  and  grant  forgiveness. 

To  suppress  the  rebellion. 

To  establish  the  supremacy  of  the  constitution  and  laws. 

To  protect  from  foreign  hostility  and  interference. 

To  keep  us  from  obstinate  adherence  to  our  own  counsels. 

To  enlighten  the  mind  of  the  nation  to  know  and  to  do  His 
will. 

To  maintain  our  place  as  a  nation. 

To  grant  courage,  power,  resistance  and  endurance. 

To  soften  the  hearts,  enlighten  the  minds  and  quicken  the 
consciences  of  those  in  rebellion. 

To  cause  the  insurgents  to  lay  down  their  arms  and  return 
to  their  allegiance  to  the  United  States. 

To  stay  the  effusion  of  blood. 

To  restore  fraternity,  union,  and  peace/' 

A  consideration  of  these  objects  for  which  President  Lin- 
coln requested  the  people  to  pray  will  convince  any  candid 
mind  that  he  was  a  firm,  unquestioning  believer  in  the  power 
of  prayer,  and  in  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the 


338     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

hearts  and  minds  of  men,  and  in  determining  the  events  of 
life. 

Not  less  pronounced  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  belief  in 

DIVINE  SOVEREIGNTY 

and  in  the  divine  supervision  of  earthly  affairs.  Of  this 
feature  of  his  faith,  Judge  Whitney  says:  "He  believed  in  the 
direct  intervention  of  God  in  our  national  affairs,  and  he 
frequently  used  to  ask  Him  in  a  direct  manly  way  to  grant 
this  boon,  avert  that  disaster,  or  advise  him  what  to  do  in  a 
given  contingency."18 

In  1842  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  but  thirty-three  years  old 
ind  unmarried,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  his  very  intimate  friend, 
Joshua  F.  Speed,  in  which  he  expresses  his  belief  in  God's 
personal  supervision  of  individual  human  lives,  in  language 
which  most  deeply  moves  the  heart  of  every  sympathetic 
reader.  In  that  letter  he  declares:  "I  believe  God  made  me 
one  of  the  instruments  of  bringing  your  Fanny  and  you  to- 
gether, which  union  I  have  no  doubt  He  had  foreordained. 
Whatever  He  designs  He  will  do  for  me  yet.  'Stand  still, 
and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord,'  is  my  text  just  now."19 

Ten  years  later,  on  July  i6th,  1852,  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  his 
great  eulogy  upon  Henry  Clay,  said:  "Such  a  man  the  times 
have  demanded,  and  such  in  the  providence  of  God  was  given 
us.  But  he  is  gone.  Let  us  strive  to  deserve,  as  far  as  mortals 
may,  the  continued  care  of  divine  providence,  trusting  that 
in  future  national  emergencies  He  will  not  fail  to  provide  us 
the  instruments  of  safety  and  security."20 

In  1858  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was  engaged  in  the  great  strug- 
gle with  Stephen  A.  Douglas  many  leading  republicans 
throughout  the  nation,  and  not  a  few  adherents  of  that  party  in 
Illinois,  were  favoring  the  re-election  of  Douglas  on  account 

18  Lincoln,  the  Citizen,  pp.  206-207. 

19  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  218-219. 

20  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  177. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  339 

of  his  contest  at  that  time  with  the  Buchanan  administration. 
This  was  very  painful  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  in  an  address  de- 
livered at  Chicago  on  July  loth,  1858,  he  referred  to  this  fact 
in  the  following  remarkable  language:  "As  surely  as  God 
reigns  over  you,  and  has  inspired  your  mind,  and  given  you  a 
sense  of  propriety,  and  continues  to  give  you  hope,  so  surely 
will  you  still  cling  to  these  ideas,  and  you  will  at  last  come 
back  after  your  wanderings,  merely  to  do  your  work  over 
again."21 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  H.  L.  Pierce,  April  i6th,  1859,  Mr. 
Lincoln  expresses  his  belief  in  the  justice  of  God  and  the 
righteousness  of  His  administration  of  human  affairs  in  the 
following  expressive  utterance:  "Those  who  deny  freedom  to 
others  deserve  it  not  for  themselves,  and  under  a  just  God, 
cannot  long  retain  it."22 

In  his  famous  speech  at  Springfield  on  "A  House  Divided 
Against  Itself,"  Mr.  Lincoln  expressed  the  conviction  that 
slavery  would  be  put  "in  the  way  of  ultimate  extinction" ;  and 
as  indicating  the  tenacity  with  which  he  clung  to  the  belief 
that  however  prolonged  or  furious  the  struggle,  God's  sover- 
eign power  would  without  fail  bring  about  its  overthrow,  later 
in  the  campaign  he  made  the  following  remarkable  pronounce- 
ment: "I  do  not  suppose  that  in  the  most  peaceful  way  ultimate 
extinction  would  occur  in  less  than  a  hundred  years  at  least; 
but  that  it  will  occur  in  the  best  way  for  both  races,  in  God's 
own  good  time,  I  have  no  doubt."23 

During  one  of  the  darkest  periods  of  the  rebellion  Mr. 
Lincoln  thus  delivered  his  soul:  "God  is  leading  our  Republic 
in  His  own  time  and  way  to  its  high  destiny,  and  will  deal 
with  it  and  fulfill  every  promise  to  men  if  the  men  of  our  day 
will  but  do  their  duty."24 

In  an  address  at  a  fair  held  in  Baltimore,  in  behalf  of 

21  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  III.,  p.  45. 

22  Ibid.,  Vol.  V.,  p.  126. 

23  Ibid.,  Vol.  IV,  p.  189. 

24  Robert  Browne,  Abraham  Lincoln  and  the  Men  of  his  Time,  Vol.  II., 
P-  378- 


340    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  Sanitary  Commission,  on  April  i8th,  1864,  he  said:  "So 
true  is  it  that  man  proposes  and  God  disposes."25 

In  speaking  to  Hon.  L.  E.  Chittenden  respecting  himself  as 
divinely  called  to  the  work  in  which  he  was  engaged  Mr.  Lin- 
coln said:  "That  the  Almighty  does  make  use  of  human 
agencies,  and  directly  intervenes  in  human  affairs,  is  one  of  the 
plainest  statements  of  the  Bible.  I  have  had  so  many  evidences 
of  this,  so  many  instances  of  being  ordered  by  some  super- 
natural power,  that  I  cannot  doubt  this  power  is  of  God."28 

On  September  I3th,  1862,  in  reply  to  a  committee  of  minis- 
ters from  Chicago,  who  urged  upon  him  the  policy  of  Emanci- 
pation, he  said:  "I  believe  in  a  divine  providence.  Unless  I 
am  more  deceived  than  I  often  am  I  wish  to  know  God's  will 
in  this  matter.  And  if  I  can  learn  it  I  will  do  it.  But  I  hope 
it  will  not  be  irreverent  in  me  to  say  that  if  it  is  probable  that 
God  would  reveal  to  others  His  will  concerning  my  duty,  it  is 
quite  as  probable  that  He  would  reveal  it  directly  to  me.  These 
are  not,  however,  the  days  of  miracles  and  I  suppose  it  will  be 
granted  that  I  am  not  to  expect  a  direct  revelation.  I  must 
study  the  plain  facts  of  the  case,  ascertain  what  is  possible  and 
decide  what  appears  to  be  wise  and  right.  Whatever  shall  ap- 
pear to  be  God's  will  I  will  do."27 

On  May  3Oth,  1863,  in  reply  to  a  committee  of  the  Presby- 
terian General  Assembly,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "From  the  begin- 
ning I  saw  that  the  issue  of  our  great  struggle  depended  on  the 
divine  interposition  and  favor.  If  we  had  that  all  would  be 
well.  In  every  case  and  at  all  hazards  the  government  must 
be  perpetuated.  Relying,  as  I  do,  upon  the  Almighty  Power, 
and  encouraged  as  I  am  by  these  resolutions  which  you  have 
just  read,  with  the  support  which  I  receive  from  Christian  men, 
I  shall  not  hesitate  to  use  all  the  means  at  my  control  to  secure 
the  termination  of  this  rebellion  and  will  hope  for  success."28 

25  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  77. 
28  Recollections  of  President  Lincoln,  p.  450. 

27  Rev.  W.  W.  Patton,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  President  Lincoln  and  the  Chicago 
Memorial,  pp.  20-25. 

28  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  287. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  341 

In  1862  Mr.  Lincoln  in  reply  to  an  address  from  the  So- 
ciety of  Friends  delivered  to  him  at  the  White  House  by  a 
deputation  headed  by  Mrs.  Gurney,  expressed  his  confidence  in 
God's  sovereignty  and  supervision  in  the  following  beautiful 
terms: 

"In  the  very  responsible  position  in  which  I  happen  to  be 
placed,  being  a  humble  instrument  in  the  hands  of  our  heavenly 
Father,  as  I  am,  and  as  we  all  are,  to  work  out  His  great  pur- 
poses, I  have  desired  that  all  my  works  and  acts  may  be  ac- 
cording to  His  will,  and  that  it  might  be  so,  I  have  sought 
His  aid;  but  if,  after  endeavoring  to  do  my  best  in  the  light 
which  He  affords  me,  I  find  my  efforts  fail,  I  must  believe  that 
for  some  purpose  unknown  to  me,  He  wills  it  otherwise.  If 
I  had  had  my  way,  this  war  would  never  have  been  commenced. 
If  I  had  been  allowed  my  way,  this  war  would  have  been  ended 
before  this;  but  we  find  it  still  continues,  and  we  must  believe 
that  He  permits  it  for  some  wise  purpose  of  His  own,  myste- 
rious and  unknown  to  us ;  and  though  with  our  limited  under- 
standings we  may  not  be  able  to  comprehend  it,  yet  we  cannot 
but  believe  that  He  who  made  the  world  still  governs  it."29 

The  confidence  with  which  Mr.  Lincoln  claimed  to  be 
divinely  chosen  and  commissioned  for  his  great  work  is  in- 
dicated by  the  following  disclosures  made  to  Father  Chiniquy, 
whom  he  had  known  for  many  years,  and  to  whom  he  un- 
reservedly opened  his  heart  when  speaking  of  religious  mat- 
ters: "Let  me  tell  you,"  he  said  on  one  occasion,  "that  I  have 
lately  read  a  passage  in  the  Old  Testament  which  had  made  a 
profound,  and  I  hope,  a  salutary  impression  on  me.  Here  is 
that  passage."  The  President  then  took  his  Bible,  opened  it  at 
the  third  chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  and  read  from  the  22nd  to 
the  27th  verse:  "  'Ye  shall  not  fear  them;  for  the  Lord  your 
God  he  shall  fight  for  you.  And  I  besought  the  Lord  at  that 
time,  saying:  O,  Lord  God,  thou  hast  begun  to  shew  thy  ser- 
vant thy  greatness,  and  thy  mighty  hand:  for  what  God  is 
29  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  pp.  50-51. 


342     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

there  in  heaven  or  in  earth,  that  can  do  according  to  thy 
works,  and  according  to  thy  might  ? 

"  'I  pray  thee,  let  me  go  over,  and  see  the  good  land  that  is 
beyond  Jordan,  that  goodly  mountain,  and  Lebanon. 

"  'But  the  Lord  was  wroth  with  me  for  your  sakes,  and 
would  not  hear  me ;  let  it  suffice  thee ;  speak  no  more  unto  me 
of  this  matter. 

"  'Get  thee  up  into  the  top  of  Pisgah,  and  lift  up  thine  eyes 
westward,  and  northward,  and  southward,  and  eastward,  and 
behold  it  with  thine  eyes;  for  thou  shalt  not  go  over  this 
Jordan.'  " 

And  after  the  President  had  read  these  words  with  great 
solemnity,  he  added:  "My  dear  Father  Chiniquy,  let  me  tell 
you  that  I  have  read  those  strange  and  beautiful  words  several 
times,  these  last  five  or  six  weeks.  The  more  I  read  them,  the 
more,  it  seems  to  me,  that  God  has  written  them  for  me  as 
well  as  for  Moses. 

"Has  He  not  taken  me  from  my  poor  log  cabin,  by  the 
hand,  as  He  did  of  Moses  in  the  reeds  of  the  Nile,  to  put  me  at 
the  head  of  the  greatest  and  most  blessed  of  modern  nations 
just  as  He  put  that  prophet  at  the  head  of  the  most  blessed 
nation  of  ancient  times  ?  Has  not  God  granted  me  a  privilege, 
which  was  not  granted  to  any  living  man,  when  I  broke  the 
fetters  of  4,000,000  men  and  made  them  free?  Has  not  our 
God  given  me  the  most  glorious  victories  over  my  enemies? 
Are  not  the  armies  of  the  Confederacy  so  reduced  to  a  handful 
of  men,  when  compared  to  what  they  were  two  years  ago, 
that  the  day  is  fast  approaching  when  they  will  have  to 
surrender?"30 

In  his  "Meditation"  which  has  become  so  famous,  and  to 
which  reference  already  has  been  made,  Mr.  Lincoln  remarks: 
"The  will  of  God  prevails.  In  great  contests  each  party  claims 
to  act  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God.  Both  may  be,  and 
one  must  be,  wrong.  God  cannot  be  for  and  against  the  same 
thing  at  the  same  time.  In  the  present  civil  war  it  is  quite 
30  Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  pp.  706-711. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  343 

possible  that  God's  purpose  is  something  different  from  the 
purpose  of  either  party;  and  yet  the  human  instrumentalities, 
working  just  as  they  do,  are  of  the  best  adaptation  to  effect 
His  purposes. 

"I  am  almost  ready  to  say  that  this  is  probably  true;  that 
God  wills  this  contest,  and  wills  that  it  shall  not  end  yet."31 

The  following  quotations  from  letters,  official  messages, 
and  personal  interviews,  indicate  how  fully  Mr.  Lincoln's 
hope  of  divine  interposition  and  aid  was  connected  with  a 
deep  sense  of  human  ignorance  and  helplessness: 

August  15,  1855.  "Our  political  problem  now  is,  'Can 
we  as  a  nation,  continue  together  permanently,  forever,  half 
slave  and  half  free?'  The  problem  is  too  mighty  for  me — 
may  God,  in  His  mercy,  superintend  the  solution."38 

On  May  23rd,  1860,  in  his  letter  of  acceptance  addressed 
to  George  Ashmun  and  the  Republican  National  Convention, 
he  writes:  "Imploring  the  assistance  of  Divine  Providence, 
.  .  .  I  am  most  happy  to  co-operate  for  the  practical  success 
of  the  principles  declared  by  the  convention."33 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  J.  R.  Giddings ;  dated  at  Springfield,  May 
2 ist,  1860,  he  utters  the  pious  wish:  "May  the  Almighty  grant 
that  the  cause  of  truth,  justice,  and  humanity  shall  in  no  wise 
suffer  at  my  hands."34 

His  farewell  address  at  Springfield,  on  February  nth, 
1 86 1,  contains  the  following:  "I  now  leave,  not  knowing  when 
or  whether  ever  I  may  return,  with  a  task  before  me  greater 
than  that  which  rested  upon  Washington.  Without  the  as- 
sistance of  that  Divine  Being  who  ever  attended  him,  I  cannot 
succeed.  With  that  assistance,  I  cannot  fail."35 

From  his  address  to  the  Ohio  Legislature,  February  I3th, 
1 86 1,  I  make  this  pertinent  quotation:  "I  turn  then  and  look 
to  the  American  people,  and  to  that  God  who  has  never  for- 

31  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  pp.  52-53. 

32  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  280. 

33  Ibid.,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  14. 

34  Ibid.,  p.  14. 

35  Ibid.,  pp.  no-ill. 


344     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

saken  them.  .  .  .  This  is  a  most  consoling  circumstance, 
and  from  it  we  may  conclude  that  all  we  want  is  time,  patience, 
and  a  reliance  on  that  God  who  has  never  forsaken  this 
people."86 

And  this  from  his  address  at  Steubenville,  Ohio,  February 
1 4th,  1861:  "Encompassed  by  vast  difficulties  as  I  am,  nothing 
shall  be  wanting  on  my  part,  if  sustained  by  God  and  the 
American  people."37 

To  the  New  York  legislature,  February  i8th,  1861,  he  said: 
"I  still  have  confidence  that  the  Almighty,  the  Maker  of  the 
Universe,  will,  through  the  instrumentality  of  this  great  and 
intelligent  people,  bring  us  through  this  as  He  has  through 
all  the  other  difficulties  of  our  country.  Relying  on  this, 
I  again  thank  you  for  this  generous  reception."38 

On  February  22nd,  1861,  speaking  on  the  occasion  of 
raising  a  flag  over  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia,  he  said: 
"I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that,  under  the  bless- 
ing of  God,  each  additional  star  added  to  that  flag  has  given 
additional  prosperity  and  happiness  to  this  country."39 

Responding  to  a  deputation  of  Evangelical  Lutherans, 
May  6th,  1862,  he  made  this  deliverance:  "You  may  recollect 
that  in  taking  up  the  sword  thus  forced  into  our  hands,  this 
government  appealed  to  the  prayers  of  the  pious  and  the  good, 
and  declared  that  it  placed  its  whole  dependence  upon  the 
favor  of  God.  I  now  humbly  and  reverently  in  your  presence, 
reiterate  the  acknowledgment  of  that  dependence,  not  doubting 
that,  if  it  shall  please  the  Divine  Being  who  determines  the 
destinies  of  nations,  this  shall  remain  a  united  people,  and 
that  they  will,  humbly  seeking  the  Divine  guidance,  make  their 
prolonged  national  existence  a  source  of  new  benefits  to  them- 
selves and  their  successors,  and  to  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
mankind."40 

36  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Ibid.,  p.  122. 

37  Ibid.,  p.  123. 

38  Ibid.,  pp.  141-142. 
89  Ibid.,  p.  159. 

*<>Ibid.,  Vol.  VII.,  pp.  154-155. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  345 

In  his  reply  to  the  East  Baltimore  Methodist  Conference, 
May  1 5th,  1862,  he  said:  "These  kind  words  of  approval,  com- 
ing from  so  numerous  a  body  of  intelligent  Christian  people, 
and  so  free  from  all  sinister  motives,  are  indeed  encouraging 
to  me.  By  the  help  of  an  All-wise  Providence,  I  shall  en- 
deavor to  do  my  duty  and  I  shall  expect  the  continuance  of 
your  prayers  for  a  right  solution  of  our  national  difficulties 
and  the  restoration  of  our  country  to  peace  and  prosperity."41 

Dr.  Miner  tells  us  of  a  heart-revealing  moment  when  in 
the  course  of  a  conversation  he  asked  Mr.  Lincoln:  "Do  you 
think,  judging  from  your  standpoint,  that  we  shall  be  able  to 
put  down  this  rebellion,"  and  received  the  answer:  "You  know 
I  am  not  of  a  very  hopeful  temperament.  I  can  take  hold  of  a 
thing  and  hold  on  a  good  while,  but  trusting  in  God  for  help 
and  believing  that  our  cause  is  just  and  right,  I  firmly  believe 
that  we  shall  conquer  in  the  end."42 

As  showing  how  absolute  was  his  dependence  upon  God  we 
quote  these  words  from  a  letter  to  Caleb  Russell,  January  5th, 
1863:  "No  one  is  more  deeply  than  myself  aware  that  without 
His  favor  our  highest  wisdom  is  but  as  foolishness,  and  that 
our  most  strenuous  efforts  would  avail  nothing  in  the  shadow 
of  His  displeasure."43 

In  one  of  the  gloomiest  hours  of  the  great  struggle  he 
said  to  a  delegation  of  clergymen:  "My  hope  of  success  in  this 
great  and  terrible  struggle  rests  on  that  immutable  foundation, 
the  justness  and  goodness  of  God.  And  when  events  are  very 
threatening,  and  prospects  very  dark,  I  still  hope,  in  some  way 
which  men  cannot  see,  all  will  be  well  in  the  end,  because  our 
cause  is  just  and  God  is  on  our  side."44 

On  April  4th,  1864,  in  a  letter  to  A.  E.  Hodges  and 
Governor  Bramlette  of  Kentucky,  referring  to  a  recent  inter- 
view, President  Lincoln  said :  "I  add  a  word  which  was  not  in 
the  verbal  conversation.  In  telling  this  tale  I  attempt  no 

41  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VII.,  pp.  163-164. 
"Lincoln  Scrap-book,  pp.  51-52. 

43  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  174. 

44  Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln,  pp.  290-291. 


346     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

compliment  to  my  own  sagacity.  I  claim  not  to  have  con-- 
trolled events,  but  confess  plainly  that  events  have  controlled 
me.  Now,  at  the  end  of  three  years'  struggle,  the  nation's 
condition  is  not  what  either  party  or  any  man  desired  or  ex- 
pected. God  alone  can  claim  it.  Whither  it  is  tending  seems 
plain.  If  God  now  wills  the  removal  of  a  great  wrong,  and 
wills  also  that  we  of  the  North,  as  well  as  you  of  the  South, 
shall  pay  fairly  for  our  complicity  in  that  wrong,  impartial 
history  will  find  therein  new  causes  to  attest  and  revere  the 
justice  and  goodness  of  God."45 

Hon.  James  F.  Wilson,  of  Iowa,  gives  an  account  of  an 
interview  in  the  White  House  at  which  he  was  present,  in 
which  he  says: 

"The  President  did  not  participate  in  this  conversation. 
He  was  an  attentive  listener,  but  gave  no  sign  of  approval  or 
disapproval  of  the  views  which  were  expressed.  At  length  one 
of  the  active  participants  remarked:  'Slavery  must  be  stricken 
down  wherever  it  exists  in  this  country.  It  is  right  that  it 
should  be.  It  is  a  crime  against  justice  and  humanity.  We 
have  tolerated  it  too  long.  It  brought  this  war  upon  us.  I 
believe  that  Providence  is  not  unmindful  of  the  struggle  in 
which  this  nation  is  engaged.  If  we  do  not  do  right  I  believe 
God  will  let  us  go  our  own  way  to  our  ruin.  But  if  we  do 
right,  I  believe  He  will  lead  us  safely  out  of  this  wilderness, 
crown  our  arms  with  victory,  and  restore  our  dissevered 
Union.' 

"I  observed  President  Lincoln  closely,"  says  Mr.  Wilson, 
"while  this  earnest  opinion  and  expression  of  religious  faith 
was  being  uttered.  I  saw  that  it  affected  him  deeply,  and 
anticipated,  from  the  play  of  his  features  and  the  sparkle  of 
his  eyes,  that  he  would  not  let  the  occasion  pass  without  mak- 
ing some  definite  response  to  it.  I  was  not  mistaken.  Mr. 
Lincoln  had  been  sitting  in  his  chair,  in  a  kind  of  weary  and 
despondent  attitude  while  the  conversation  progressed.  At 
the  conclusion  of  the  remarks  I  have  quoted,  he  at  once  arose 
.  *5  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  65. 


HON.  JAMES  F.  WILSON  OF  IOWA 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  347 

and  stood  at  his  extreme  height.  Pausing  a  moment,  his  right 
arm  outstretched  towards  the  gentleman  who  had  just  ceased 
speaking,  his  face  aglow  like  the  face  of  a  prophet,  Mr.  Lincoln 
gave  deliberate  and  emphatic  utterance  to  the  religious  faith 
which  sustained  him  in  the  great  trial  to  which  he  and  the 
country  were  subjected.  He  said: 

"  'My  faith  is  greater  than  yours.  I  not  only  believe  that 
Providence  is  not  unmindful  of  the  struggle  in  which  this 
nation  is  engaged ;  that  if  we  do  not  do  right  God  will  let  us  go 
our  own  way  to  our  ruin ;  and  that  if  we  do  right  He  will  lead 
us  safely  out  of  this  wilderness,  crown  our  arms  with  victory, 
and  restore  our  dissevered  Union,  as  you  have  expressed  your 
belief;  but  I  also  believe  that  He  will  compel  us  to  do  right 
in  order  that  He  may  do  these  things,  not  so  much  because  we 
desire  them  as  that  they  accord  with  His  plans  of  dealing  with 
this  nation,  in  the  midst  of  which  He  means  to  establish 
justice.' 

"The  manner  of  this  delivery  was  most  impressive,  and  as 
Mr.  Lincoln  resumed  his  seat  he  seemed  to  have  recovered 
from  the  dejection  so  apparent  when  we  entered  the  room. 
With  a  reassured  tone  and  manner,  he  remarked: 

"  'The  Army  of  the  Potomac  is  necessary  to  our  success ; 
and  though  the  case  at  this  moment  looks  dark,  I  can  but  hope 
and  believe  that  we  will  soon  have  news  from  it  relieving  our 
present  anxiety.  Sometimes  it  seems  necessary  that  we  should 
be  confronted  with  perils  which  threaten  us  with  disaster  in 
order  that  we  may  not  get  puffed  up  and  forget  Him  who  has 
much  work  for  us  yet  to  do.  I  hope  our  present  case  is  no 
more  than  this,  and  that  a  bright  morning  will  follow  the  dark 
hour  that  now  fills  us  with  alarm.  Indeed,  my  faith  tells  me  it 
will  be  so.'  "46 

This  statement  of  Hon.  James  F.  Wilson  in  some  respects 

is  in  a  class  by  itself.      Of  all  who  have  testified  concerning 

the  declaration  of  Mr.  Lincoln  respecting  his  religious  faith 

none  stood  upon  a  higher  plane  than  did  this  distinguished 

46  Some  Memories  of  Lincoln,  North  American  Review,  1896,  p.  667. 


348     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

member  of  the  United  States  Senate.  His  rare  intellectual 
gifts  and  attainments  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  committee 
on  judiciary  in  the  National  House  of  Representatives  and 
caused  him  to  be  invited  by  President  Grant  to  accept  the 
position  of  Secretary  of  State  in  his  Cabinet,  which  he  de- 
clined; and  later  led  the  people  of  Iowa  to  choose  him  as  one 
of  their  representatives  in  the  United  States  Senate.  His 
ability,  learning  and  rare  poise  of  character  caused  him  to  be 
chosen  as  one  of  the  managers  of  the  impeachment  of  Presi- 
dent Andrew  Johnson,  and  also  to  be  assigned  to  the  position 
of  railroad  commissioner  for  the  United  States.  His  long 
and  distinguished  public  services,  together  with  his  known  dis- 
cretion in  speech  and  act  and  his  devout  faith  in  God  give 
peculiar  weight  to  his  testimony  respecting  the  declaration  of 
Mr.  Lincoln,  as  published  by  him  in  the  North  American 
Review. 

In  this  interview  President  Lincoln  went  further  than  in 
any  other  in  declaring  his  belief  in  God's  purpose  concerning 
our  nation.  Many  times  he  had  expressed  his  conviction  that 
"under  God"  the  nation  would  be  granted  ultimate  victory  in 
its  great  struggle ;  but  it  should  not  be  overlooked,  nor  lightly 
considered,  that  in  this  interview  he  not  only  expressed  his 
belief  that  God  would  bless  the  nation  with  victory,  but  he  also 
in  clear  and  unequivocal  language  stated  his  conviction  that  so 
fixed  was  the  divine  purpose,  to  save  the  nation  that  since  such 
salvation  could  be  granted  only  in  case  of  national  obedience, 
the  Almighty  would  apply  the  rod  of  chastisement  until  we  as 
a  nation  were  sufficiently  humbled  to  be  able  to  glorify  His 
name  by  the  victory  it  was  in  His  heart  and  purpose  to  grant. 
While  this  conviction  is  implied  in  other  declarations  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  in  the  Wilson  interview  it  is  stated  so  lucidly  and 
unequivocally  as  to  admit  of  no  misunderstanding  whatso- 
ever. President  Lincoln's  profound  faith  in  the  overruling 
providence  of  God  in  all  our  national  affairs  should  be  kept 
constantly  in  mind  while  considering  the  other  statement  of  his 
convictions  concerning  the  rule  of  God  over  the  affairs  of  men. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  349 

His  belief  in  the  sovereignty  of  God  does  not  in  the  least 
conflict  with  his  belief  in  the  free  agency  of  man,  as  evidenced 
by  the  following  excerpt  from  his  annual  message  to  Congress 
of  December  ist,  1862,  in  connection  with  his  plea  for  the 
adoption  of  a  policy  of  emancipation:  "We  shall  nobly  save 
or  meanly  lose  the  last,  best  hope  of  earth.  Other  means  may 
succeed;  this  could  not  fail.  The  way  is  plain,  peaceful, 
generous,  just — a  way  which,  if  followed,  the  world  will  for- 
ever applaud,  and  God  must  forever  bless."47 

The  distinctive  features  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  religio-political 
faith  was  his  belief  in 

RETRIBUTIVE  DIVINE  JUSTICE. 

That  belief  rested  upon  his  firm  conviction  that  right  is 
sure  to  receive  divine  approval  and  reward,  while  wrong  is 
not  permitted  to  go  unpunished.  His  belief  in  personal  and 
individual  responsibility  to  God  was  coupled  with  his  knowl- 
edge that  governments  are  persons  with  wills,  freedom  of 
choice  and  accountability  to  their  divine  Author. 

Mr.  Lincoln  also  understood  and  seems  never  to  have 
doubted  nor  forgotten  that  the  sins  of  individual  people,  when 
authorized,  sanctioned  or  tolerated  by  government,  become 
also  national  sins  and  incur  national  punishment.  Hence, 
believing  as  he  did,  that  slavery  was  a  great  wrong  he  also 
and  necessarily  believed  that  the  government's  complicity  in 
that  wrong,  if  continued,  would  inevitably  bring  upon  the 
nation  the  severe  judgments  of  the  Almighty.  And  to  avert 
that  calamity  seems  to  have  been  the  chief  purpose  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  strenuous  efforts  for  the  "ultimate  extinction"  of 
slavery. 

He  was  greatly  disturbed  and  made  "miserable,"  as  he  said, 
by  witnessing  or  contemplating  the  cruelties  of  slavery  and 
the  sufferings  of  the  slaves.  But  he  was  more  than  disturbed, 
he  was  terrified,  when,  with  the  foresight  of  an  inspired 

*T  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  131. 


3'5o     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

prophet  he  saw  the  day  of  divine  wrath  approaching  and  the 
severe  punishment  and  peril  of  the  nation  for  its  part  in  that 
great  transgression. 

Patriotism  was  the  dominant  feature  of  his  philanthropy 
and  the  perils  of  the  nation  disturbed  him  far  more  than  the 
sufferings  of  the  slaves,  though  he  was  keenly  sensitive  to 
all  human  afflictions.  He  was  comforted  by  his  belief  in 
God's  merciful  dealings  with  individual  transgressors  but  his 
soul  was  in  agony  when  he  contemplated  the  government's 
complicity  with  slavery  and  remembered  that  the  punishment 
of  nations  for  their  sins  is  always  administered  in  this  life 
and  with  great  severity.  Therefore,  he  could  truly  say,  as 
for  the  same  reason  Jefferson  said:  "I  tremble  for  my  country 
when  I  remember  that  God  is  just."  And  some  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's vehement  and  impassioned  utterances  respecting  the 
nation's  expiation  of  its  sinful  complicity  with  slavery  caused 
the  foregoing  declaration  of  Jefferson  to  appear  very  mild  and 
moderate. 

On  the  i6th  of  September,  1859, — the  year  following  his 
great  debates  with  Douglas  and  the  year  preceding  his  election 
as  President, — in  a  speech  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  he  said:  "There 
was  danger  to  this  country,  danger  of  the  avenging  justice 
of  God,  in  that  little  unimportant  popular  sovereignty  question 
of  Judge  Douglas.  He  supposed  there  was  a  question  of  God's 
eternal  justice  wrapped  up  in  the  enslaving  of  any  race  of  men, 
or  any  man,  and  that  those  who  did  so  braved  the  arm  of 
Jehovah — that  when  a  nation  thus  dared  the  Almighty,  every 
friend  of  that  nation  had  cause  to  dread  His  wrath."48 

In  October,  1860,  only  a  few  days  before  his  election  as 
President,  when  during  the  famous  "Bateman  interview"  he 
learned  that  of  the  twenty-three  pastors  in  Springfield,  his 
home  city,  only  three  were  known  to  be  in  favor  of  his  election, 
he  exclaimed:  "It  seems  as  if  God  had  borne  with  this  thing 
(slavery)  until  the  very  teachers  of  religion  have  come  to  de- 
fend it  from  the  Bible  and  to  claim  for  it  a  divine  character 
48  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  V.,  pp.  159-160. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  351 

and  sanction.     And  now  the  cup  of  iniquity  is  full  and  the 
vials  of  wrath  will  be  poured  out." 

During  the  interview  at  which  Mr.  Lincoln  made  this  re- 
markable declaration  Dr.  Newton  Bateman,  superintendent  of 
the  Public  Schools  of  Illinois,  and  Mr.  Lincoln's  very  close 
personal  friend,  was  his  only  companion.  The  national  cam- 
paign which  resulted  in  his  first  election  as  President  was  at 
a  high  point  of  interest  and  activity.  Elections  in  the  "October 
States" — Ohio,  Indiana  and  Pennsylvania — had  been  held 
and  indicated  almost  to  a  certainty  that  a  few  days  later  Mr. 
Lincoln  would  be  triumphantly  elected  President.  It  was  at 
the  end  of  a  very  busy  day  and  the  last  caller  had  left  the 
Capitol  building,  in  which  the  Presidential  candidate  occupied 
rooms  during  the 'campaign,  and  in  this  seclusion  these  two 
devoted  friends  engaged  in  heart  to  heart  consultation  con- 
cerning the  attitude  of  their  neighbors  and  especially  of  the 
ministers  and  church  people  toward  the  Presidential  candidates. 
Very  carefully  and  for  an  extended  period  they  examined  the 
pages  of  the  polling  list  which  his  supporters  had  prepared 
and  as  Mr.  Lincoln  came  to  realize  that  standing  for  freedom 
as  he  did  he  was  opposed  by  "the  teachers  of  righteousness" 
as  he  designated  them,  he  seems  to  have  had  a  prophet's  vision 
of  the  approaching  judgments  of  God  as  he  gave  vent  to  the 
agony  of  his  soul  in  the  most  startling  declarations  he  had 
ever  uttered. 

Dr.  Holland  in  giving  an  account  of  this  interview  tells 
us  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  agitation  was  such  as  Dr.  Bateman  had 
never  before  witnessed  in  him.  He  moved  about  the  room 
with  rapid,  nervous  strides,  uttering  lamentations  which 
seemed  inadequate  to  express  the  depths  of  his  emotions.  It 
was  not  anger  but  anguish,  not  pride  but  pity  that  burned  with 
volcanic  violence  in  his  soul  in  the  seclusion  of  that  upper 
chamber  in  the  Capitol  at  Springfield.  The  bright  star  of  his 
own  personal  triumph  at  the  coming  election,  though  rising  in 
glorious  splendor,  was  for  the  time  unseen  and  forgotten  as 


352    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

in  vision  he  beheld  the  storm-cloud  of  divine  wrath  filling  all 
the  heavens. 

"He  seemed  especially  impressed,"  says  Dr.  Holland,  "with 
the  solemn  grandeur  of  portions  of  Revelation  describing  the 
wrath  of  Almighty  God,  and  repeatedly  referred  to  his  con- 
viction that  the  day  of  wrath  was  at  hand  and  would  issue 
in  the  overthrow  of  slavery."  Mr.  Lincoln's  manner  and 
declarations  upon  that  occasion  filled  Dr.  Bateman  with  as- 
tonishment and  indicated  the  violence  of  the  storm  that  was 
raging  in  his  soul. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  Dr.  Bateman's  astonishment 
at  Mr.  Lincoln's  manner  and  statements  for  upon  no  other  oc- 
casion is  he  known  to  have  been  so  tremendously  agitated  or 
to  have  given  utterance  to  such  alarming  apprehensions  as 
during  that  memorable  interview.    There  were  other  occasions 
upon  which  he  was  deeply  stirred  but  never  as  far  as  known, 
save  at  that  time,  did  he  manifest  his  perturbed  condition  in 
the  presence  of  another  person.    Once  during  the  debates  with 
Douglas  he  was  aroused  to  the  verge  of  anger  but  his  words, 
though  exceedingly  forceful,  seem  to  have  been  chosen  with 
care  and  spoken  without  bitterness.     He  was  overwhelmed 
with  grief  when  death  invaded  his  family  circle  in  the  White 
House  but  he  wept  in  silence  or  gave  expression  to  his  sorrow 
in  words  of  touching  tenderness.     He  was  shocked  and  be- 
wildered by  the  disastrous  defeat  at  Chancellorsville,  but  no 
moan  or  word  of  complaint  mingled  with  the  sound  of  his 
footsteps  as  in  the  seclusion  of  his  private  chamber  he  marched 
to  and  fro  during  all  the  weary  watches  of  that  woeful  night. 
Upon  all  these  and  similar  occasions  his  self-restraint  was 
marvelous,  but  somehow  during  the  Bateman  interview  the 
anguish  of  his  soul  burst  through  his  habitual  restraint  and 
found  expression  in  acts  and  utterances  peculiar  to  that  one 
occasion.     So  appalling  was  the  vision  he  then  beheld  that 
his  cry  of  terror  rang  out  upon  the  night  as  did  the  solemn 
warnings   of  Jeremiah  when  by  inspiration  he  beheld   the 
gathering  and  approaching  storm  of  retribution  which  came 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  353 

upon  ancient  Israel.  It  was  the  appalling  vision  of  the  coming 
judgments  of  the  Almighty  which  caused  Abraham  Lincoln, 
upon  that  occasion,  to  appear,  act  and  speak  as  he  did  at  no 
other  time.  Jeremiah's  lamentations  were  the  outpouring  of 
his  loyal  and  loving  soul  when  in  prophetic  vision  he  saw  the 
bitter  humiliation  and  sufferings  of  the  seventy  years  of 
captivity  in  Babylon,  and  like  those  woeful  warnings  of  "The 
Weeping  Prophet"  were  the  utterances  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
when  he  amazed  Dr.  Bateman  by  the  vehement  declaration  of 
his  heart-breaking  vision  of  the  turpitude  of  the  nation's  sins 
and  the  fearful  judgments  of  God.  With  the  vision  of  a  seer 
he  beheld  the  coming  calamity,  and  with  the  voice  of  a 
prophet  he  uttered  his  solemn  warnings.  He  was,  for  a  time, 
in  the  realm  of  spiritual  illumination  and  his  words  have  all 
the  distinctive  characteristics  of  divine  inspiration.  It  was  this, 
which  at  the  time,  so  impressed  Dr.  Bateman  and  which  ever 
since  has  given  such  peculiar  significance  to  the  words  he  ut- 
tered at  that  time. 

But  great  as  was  his  agony  and  pathetic  as  were  his  ex- 
clamations when  he  saw  the  storm  approaching  he  uttered  no 
murmur  or  cry  of  pain  when  his  predictions  were  fulfilled 
and  the  rod  of  righteous  retribution  fell  upon  the  nation. 

We  shall  not  understand  Abraham  Lincoln,  as  we  should, 
if  we  fail  to  note  the  significant  contrast  between  his  agitation 
during  the  Bateman  interview  and  his  humble  submission  to 
the  divine  judgments  when  they  came  and  the  heroic  fortitude 
with  which  he  endured  the  severe  chastisement  of  the  Almighty 
during  all  of  his  Presidential  term.  His  proclamations  call- 
ing the  people  to  penitence  and  prayer  are  dominated  by  a 
gentle  and  submissive  spirit.  He  did  not  forget  nor  would  he 
permit  the  people  to  forget  "that  by  His  divine  law  nations 
like  individuals  are  subjected  to  punishment  and  chastisements 
in  this  world,"  and  "that  the  awful  calamity  of  civil  war  which 
now  desolates  the  land  may  be  but  a  punishment  inflicted  upon 
us  for  our  presumptuous  sins." 


354     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

With  the  tenderness  of  a  loving  father  he  admonished  the 
people  "to  recognize  the  hand  of  God  in  this  terrible  visita- 
tion and  in  sorrowful  remembrance  of  our  faults  and  crimes  as 
a  nation,"  "to  bow  in  humble  submission  to  His  chastisements, 
to  confess  and  deplore  their  sins  and  transgressions,"  "to 
pray  that  we  may  be  spared  further  punishment  though  most 
justly  deserved."  The  proclamations  of  President  Lincoln 
from  which  these  selections  are  taken  were  written  by  one 
whose  soul  was  saturated  with  the  letter  of  encouragement  and 
counsel  which  Jeremiah  sent  to  his  brethren  in  captivity  ad- 
monishing them  cheerfully  to  submit  to  the  divine  judgments, 
fervently  to  pray  for  and  confidently  to  expect  the  promised 
deliverance.  Jeremiah  said,  "For  I  know  the  thoughts  that  I 
have  toward  you  saith  the  Lord,  thoughts  of  peace  and  not  of 
evil,  to  give  you  hope  in  your  latter  end."  Lincoln  asked  the 
people  to  pray  "humbly  believing  that  it  is  in  accordance  with 
His  will  that  our  place  should  be  maintained  as  a  united  people 
among  the  families  of  nations." 

Jeremiah,  speaking  for  the  Almighty,  said:  "Ye  shall  call 
upon  me,  and  ye  shall  go  and  pray  unto  me,  and  I  will  hearken 
unto  you.  And  ye  shall  seek  me  and  find  me,  when  ye  shall 
search  for  me  with  all  your  heart."49 

Lincoln  counselled  the  people  "to  rest  in  the  hope  author- 
ized by  the  divine  teachings  that  the  united  cry  of  the  nation 
will  be  heard  on  high  and  answered"  by  "the  restoration  of 
our  divided  and  suffering  country  to  its  former  happy  condi- 
tion of  unity  and  peace." 

The  foregoing  selections  from  President  Lincoln's  procla- 
mations glow  with  intense  religious  fervor  but  there  is  no 
flame  of  passion  as  was  sometimes  the  case  when  he  discussed 
the  subject  of  retributive  divine  justice  in  private  conversation 
with  trusted  personal  friends.  When  free  from  the  restraints 
under  which  important  state  papers  are  prepared,  Mr.  Lincoln, 
in  discussing  this  question  assumed  a  manner  and  employed 
language  which  disclosed  the  great  depth  of  his  feelings  on  the 
49  Jer.  29 : 12,  13. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  355 

subject,  and  bore  witness  to  his  prolonged  meditation  upon 
God's  dealings  with  nations  in  this  world  for  their  complicity 
in  wrong. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  in  literature  anything  more 
pathetic  than  the  following  statements  of  President  Lincoln 
in  a  private  conversation  with  Father  Chiniquy  during  the  dark 
days  of  the  war:  "My  God  alone  knows  what  I  have  already 
suffered  for  my  dear  country's  sake.  But  my  fear  is  that  the 
justice  of  God  is  not  yet  paid.  When  I  look  upon  the  rivers 
of  tears  and  blood  drawn  by  the  lashes  of  the  merciless  mas- 
ters from  the  veins  of  the  very  hearts  of  those  millions  of  de- 
fenseless slaves,  these  two  hundred  years;  when  I  remember 
the  agonies,  the  cries,  the  unspeakable  tortures  of  those  people 
to  which  I  have  to  some  extent  connived  with  so  many  others 
a  part  of  my  life,  I  fear  that  we  are  still  far  from  the  com- 
plete expiation.  For  the  judgments  of  God  are  true  and 
righteous."50 

In  the  light  of  this  lava-flow  of  impassioned  utterances 
the  greatness  of  Abraham  Lincoln  is  revealed.  The  greatness 
of  Socrates  was  revealed  by  his  behavior  under  suffering,  but 
he  suffered  alone  while  millions  of  Lincoln's  beloved  country- 
men were  with  him  in  the  furnace  of  affliction.  Socrates  was 
great  when  he  calmly  drank  the  poisonous  hemlock;  Lincoln 
was  more  than  great  when,  with  equal  tranquillity,  he  emptied 
to  its  dregs  the  bitter  cup  of  suffering  which  was  pressed  to 
his  lips  and  wept  in  sympathy  as  he  heard  the  groans  of  his 
fellow  sufferers  and  realized  that  their  chastisement  was  just 
and  righteous  altogether. 

And  in  unstudied  and  forceful  language  which  would  not 
have  been  suitable  in  an  official  document  Mr.  Lincoln  in  this 
very  remarkable  private  interview  disclosed  the  dominance  in 
his  thought  of  God's  dealings  with  nations  for  their  trans- 
gressions. He  had  given  much  thought  during  earlier  years 
to  the  evil  character  of  slavery  but  at  the  time  of  this  inter- 
view with  Father  Chiniquy  his  mind  seems  to  have  dwelt  upon 
50  Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  pp.  706-711. 


356    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  sovereignty  of  God  and  His  gracious  though  very  severe 
administration  of  retributive  justice. 

The  progress  of  the  war  and  the  increase  of  the  sufferings 
and  sorrow  which  it  caused  were  to  Mr.  Lincoln  a  constant  dis- 
closure of  the  hand  of  God  in  executing  the  penalty  of  His 
violated  law.  Other  governmental  matters  required  and  re- 
ceived his  attention  but  they  could  not  crowd  back  from  the 
forefront  of  his  thought  the  retributive  judgments  of  the  Al- 
mighty. If  any  extended  declaration  of  his  failed  to  men- 
tion this  matter  he  seemed  to  regard  it  as  an  omission  which 
should  be  explained  or  supplied.  An  illustration  of  this  is 
seen  in  the  famous  Bramlette-Dixon  interview  and  letter. 
Early  in  April,  1864,  Governor  Bramlette,  Senator  Dixon  and 
Dr.  Hodges  of  Kentucky  had  an  interview  with  the  President 
during  which  Mr.  Lincoln  discussed  the  question  of  slavery 
with  such  superb  wisdom  that  he  was  requested  to  commit  his 
statements  to  writing  which  he  did  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Hodges 
dated  April  4th,  1864.  In  that  letter  Mr.  Lincoln,  after 
repeating  the  lucid  and  comprehensive  statement  of  his  attitude 
to  slavery,  which  he  had  given  at  the  interview  a  few  days 
before,  remembering  that  during  that  interview  he  had  made 
no  reference  to  the  subject  of  retribution,  added  the  words 
already  quoted  in  this  chapter. 

Remembering  that  the  letter  to  A.  G.  Hodges  was  written 
eleven  months  before  Mr.  Lincoln  delivered  his  second  in- 
augural address,  it  will  be  seen  how  even  at  that  early  day  his 
mind  and  soul  were  being  saturated  with  the  subject  which 
was  the  chief  theme  of  that  greatest  of  all  literary  productions. 
"The  rivers  of  tears  and  blood"  of  which  he  spoke  so  pathet- 
ically to  Father  Chiniquy,  seem  to  have  haunted  his  vision  un- 
til he  saw  them  swallowed  up  in  the  crimson  tide  which 
"the  judgments  of  the  Lord"  demanded  as  an  expiation  of  the 
nation's  sins. 

It  is  fortunate  that  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  great  intellectual 
power  there  was  united  a  heart  of  boundless  sympathy  and 
tenderness,  thus  giving  to  his  personality  a  fine  sense  of 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  357 

balance.  His  legal  studies  and  training  led  him  to  recognize 
the  immutable  law  of  divine  retribution ;  but  with  this  feature 
of  his  faith,  there  was  associated  a  strong  belief  in 

DIVINE  COMPASSION  AND  MERCY 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  always  distinguished  for  rare  tenderness 
of  heart  and  sympathy  with  all  who  were  suffering  or  in  need. 
When  but  a  child  it  was  his  custom,  if  he  was  not  in  attendance 
upon  public  worship  on  the  Lord's  day,  to  gather  his  playmates 
about  him  and  to  discourse  to  them  after  the  fashion  of  a 
preacher ;  and  on  such  occasions  he  always  admonished  them  to 
be  kind  to  all  their  associates  and  even  to  dumb  animals.  The 
characteristics  of  his  nature  thus  exhibited  increased  with 
his  growth  in  stature,  and  in  personal  character.  As  early  as 
1851,  in  the  familiar  letter  to  his  stepbrother  relative  to  his 
father's  illness  he  speaks  of  the  Almighty  as  "our  great  and 
good  and  merciful  Maker."51 

In  his  great  speech  at  Springfield,  on  July  I7th,  1858,  he 
made  a  telling  point  against  Judge  Douglas,  who  was  seeking 
to  win  the  votes  of  the  antislavery  people  by  saying:  "Repent- 
ance before  forgiveness  is  a  provision  of  the  Christian  system, 
and  on  that  condition  alone  will  the  republicans  grant  him 
forgiveness."52 

That  conception  of  the  divine  compassion  and  mercy  which 
was  so  dominant  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  faith,  is  stated  with  great 
clearness  and  force  in  portions  of  his  proclamations  for  a  day 
of  Thanksgiving. 

In  the  Proclamation  of  August  I2th,  1861,  appointing 
"A  Day  of  Public  Prayer,  Humiliation  and  Fasting,"  he  in- 
vites the  people  "to  acknowledge  and  revere  the  Supreme 
Government  of  God ;  to  bow  in  humble  submission  to  His  chas- 
tisement; to  confess  and  deplore  their  sins  and  transgressions 
in  the  full  conviction  that  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning 

51  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  II.,  p.  158. 

52  Ibid.,  Vol.  III.,  p.  167. 


358     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

of  wisdom;  and  to  pray  with  all  fervency  and  contrition 
for  the  pardon  of  their  past  offenses.  In  soulful  remem- 
brance of  our  own  faults  and  crimes  as  a  nation  and  as  individ- 
uals, -to  humble  ourselves  before  Him,  and  to  pray  for  His 
mercy — to  pray  that  we  may  be  spared  further  punishment 
though  most  justly  deserved."53 

On  March  3oth,  1863,  he  appointed  "A  day  for  national 
prayer  and  humiliation,"  calling  upon  the  people  "to  confess 
their  sins  and  transgressions  with  humble  sorrow,  yet  with 
assured  hope  that  genuine  repentance  will  lead  to  mercy  and 
pardon.  To  humble  ourselves  before  the  offended  Power,  to 
confess  our  national  sins,  and  to  pray  for  clemency  and  for- 
giveness."54 

On  October  3rd,  1863,  in  his  proclamation  appointing  a  day 
of  Thanksgiving  .and  prayer,  in  speaking  of  the  great  favors 
which  had  been  bestowed  upon  the  nation,  he  said:  "No  human 
counsel  hath  devised,  nor  hath  any  mortal  hand  worked  out 
these  great  things;  they  are  gracious  gifts  of  the  most  High 
God,  who,  while  dealing  with  us  in  anger  for  our  sins  hath 
nevertheless  remembered  mercy."55 

On  October  2Oth,  1864,  in  the  last  Proclamation  which  he 
issued  appointing  a  day  of  annual  Thanksgiving  he  admon- 
ishes the  people  "that  on  that  occasion  they  do  reverently  hum- 
ble themselves  in  the  dust,  and  from  thence  offer  up  penitent 
and  fervent  prayers."56 

Mr.  Lincoln's  regard  for 

THE  CHRISTIAN  SABBATH 

is  sufficiently  expressed  in  the  following  order:  "Order 
for  Sabbath  Observance,  Executive  Mansion,  Washington, 
Nov.  15th,  1862. 

"The  President,   Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army  and 

53  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VI.,  pp.  341-343- 
"Ibid.,  Vol.  VIII.,  pp.  235-237. 
as Ibid.,  Vol.  IX,  p.  152. 
68  Ibid.,  Vol.  X.,  p.  246. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  359 

navy,  desires  and  enjoins  the  orderly  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
by  the  officers  and  men  in  the  military  and  naval  service.  The 
importance  for  man  and  beast  of  the  prescribed  weekly  rest, 
the  sacred  rights  of  Christian  soldiers,  and  sailors,  a  becom- 
ing deference  to  the  best  sentiment  of  a  Christian  people,  and 
a  due  regard  for  the  Divine  Will,  demand  that  Sunday  labor 
in  the  army  and  navy  be  reduced  to  the  measure  of  strict 
necessity.  The  discipline  and  character  of  the  national  forces 
should  not  suffer,  nor  the  cause  they  defend  be  imperilled,  by 
the  profanation  of  the  day  or  name  of  the  Most  High.  'At 
this  time  of  public  distress/  adopting  the  words  of  Washing- 
ton in  1776,  'men  may  find  enough  to  do  in  the  service  of 
God  and  their  country  without  abandoning  themselves  to  vice 
and  immorality/  The  first  general  order  issued  by  the  Father 
of  his  country  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence  indicates 
the  spirit  in  which  our  institutions  were  founded  and  should 
ever  be  defended.  'The  General  hopes  and  trusts  that  every 
officer  and  man  will  endeavor  to  live  and  act  as  becomes  a 
Christian  soldier,  defending  the  dearest  rights  and  liberties  of 
his  country/  "" 

THE  CHURCH 

Nothing  was  more  manifest  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  life  and  in 
his  teachings  than  his  firm  and  constant  belief  in  the  Church 
as  a  divine  institution.  In  early  life  his  lot  was  cast  with 
the  Methodists  and  Baptists,  but  during  his  life  in  Springfield 
and  at  Washington,  his  personal  denominational  preferences 
were  with  the  Presbyterians.  He  was  a  regular  and  interested 
worshipper  in  that  denomination  both  at  his  home  city  and  at 
the  National  Capital.  He  was  also  strongly  attached  to  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  because  of  its  spirituality,  its 
cordial  fellowship,  its  great  numerical  strength  and  its  con- 
sequent large  contribution  to  the  needs  of  the  government 
during  all  the  years  of  his  Presidency.  This  is  felicitously 
expressed  in  the  following  reply  to  a  Methodist  delegation, 

67  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,.  Vol.  VIII.,  pp.  76-77- 


360    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

May  I4th,  1864:  "It  is  no  fault  in  others  that  the  Methodist 
Church  sends  more  soldiers  to  the  field,  more  nurses  to  the 
hospitals,  and  more  prayers  to  heaven  than  any.  God  bless  the 
Methodist  Church.  Bless  all  the  churches,  and  blessed  be 
God,  who,  in  this  our  great  trial,  giveth  us  the  churches."68 

Mr.  Lincoln's  views  respecting  the  justification  for  the 
existence  of  so  many  religious  denominations  is  expressed  in 
the  following  portions  of  his  statements  on  that  subject  to  a 
company  of  friends  and  reported  by  Dr.  Robert  Browne,  as 
follows: 

"In  one  of  his  cheeriest  moods,  one  day,  I  remember,  the 
subject  of  the  many  Protestant  sects  was  being  considered  and 
talked  over.  One  good  old  brother,  a  kind-hearted  man,  and  as 
timid,  lamented  the  number  of  sects,  and  hoped  that  some  day 
a  harmonizing  spirit  would  prevail  among  all  Christian  be- 
lievers, and  that  all  of  them  would  unite  in  one  Church  organi- 
zation to  serve  the  Master.  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "My  good 
brother,  you  are  all  wrong.  The  more  sects  we  have,  the  bet- 
ter. They  are  all  getting  somebody  in  that  the  others  could 
not;  and  even  with  the  numerous  divisions  we  are  all  doing 
tolerably  well. 

"It  is  not  a  certainty  by  any  means  that  a  quiet  time  is 
the  best  for  progress.  It  is  not  so  by  any  means  in  the 
progress  of  human  liberty  or  the  release  of  men  from  supersti- 
tion and  persecution  under  the  forms  of  religion.  The  great- 
est achievements  have  always  come  in  stirring,  fighting  times, 
like  those  of  Luther,  Cromwell,  and  the  American  revolution. 
What  we  need  is  not  fewer  sects  or  parties,  but  more  freedom 
and  independence  for  those  we  have.  The  sects  are  all  right 
and  will  get  through  all  right  in  the  end.  God  is  going  to  be 
more  merciful  to  men  trying  to  do  right  than  most  people 
think.  He  is  so  much  more  familiar  with  human  frailties 
than  a  little  sect  in  any  single  organization  can  be,  that  there 
is  scarcely  room  for  doubt  that  He  will  deal  more  gently  with 
blundering,  sinning  humanity  than  the  sects  would  deal  with 
58  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  100. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  361 

one  another.    I  would  rather  there  were  more  than  less,  if  one 
were  to  hold  all  the  power. 

"Yet  sects  are  right,  and  should  hammer  away  until  they 
reach  the  best  that  is  attainable.  God  intends  that  men  should 
fight  their  way  to  better  conditions,  and  not  be  lazy  or  timid, 
or  expect  that  their  passage  would  be  an  easy  one  through  the 
world  or  beyond  in  ignorant  idleness.  We  are  often  con- 
fronted with  the  fear  of  too  many  sects,  as  so  many  timid 
people  among  them  so  often  dread,  and  wonder  which  is 
right  and  which  is  best  among  them.  They  are  all  right. 

"Think  of  the  sect  drilling  so  many  of  us  have  passed 
through,  mostly  to  our  advantage,  as  responsible  beings.  Our 
people  came  from  the  good  old  Quaker  stock,  through  Pennsyl- 
vania, Virginia,  and  Kentucky.  Circumstances  took  us  into 
the  Baptist  sect  in  Indiana,  in  which  several  of  our  people 
have  remained.  While  there,  a  good  Methodist  elder  rode 
forty  miles  through  a  winter  storm  out  of  his  way  to  preach 
my  mother's  funeral  sermon  at  Spencer  Creek.  Here  in 
Illinois  we  are  with  the  Presbyterians,  where  the  Methodists 
are  as  thick  as  bees  all  about  us."59 

Mr.  Lincoln  believed  in 

SALVATION  BY  FAITH  IN  CHRIST 

This  was  indicated  by  many  and  very  significant  references 
to  the  Saviour,  and  the  marked  reverence  and  affection  with 
which  that  name  was  always  spoken  by  him.  In  earlier  days  he 
had  been  closely  associated  with  Major  Merwin  in  the  tem- 
perance work  in  Illinois  and  always  manifested  deep  sympathy 
with  and  interest  in  the  gospel  features  of  that  work.  Because 
of  that  interest  he  afterwards  afforded  Major  Merwin  every 
desirable  opportunity  to  visit  the  front  during  the  war  to  in- 
duce soldiers  to  abstain  from  intoxicants  and  to  become  Chris- 
tians. 

In  the  case  of  Colonel  Loomis,  elsewhere  referred  to,  Mr. 

59  Abraham  Lincoln  and  the  Men  of  his  Time,  Vol.  II. t  pp.  427-428. 


362     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Lincoln  was  disinclined  to  retain  him  in  the  position  which  he 
held  until  he  learned  of  the  religious  work  he  always  had  con- 
ducted among  the  men  under  his  command ;  when  he  remarked 
that  this  was  "his  highest  possible  recommendation." 

According  to  the  statement  of  Mrs.  Rebecca  Pomeroy,  who 
was  for  fourteen  weeks  a  nurse  in  the  White  House,  the  Presi- 
dent frequently  accompanied  her  upon  her  visitations  to  the 
hospitals,  and  would  never  permit  her  to  pass  over  the  religious 
exercises  which  formed  part  of  her  work,  but  always  listened 
with  close  and  constant  attention  while  she  pointed  afflicted 
and  suffering  soldiers  to  Jesus  Christ  as  the  only  one  in  whom 
they  could  find  salvation,  and  from  whom  there  could  be  ad- 
ministered to  them  consolation  and  comfort. 

Mrs.  Pomeroy  in  her  very  interesting  and  instructive 
record  of  the  events  of  those  weeks  says  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  a 
conversation  with  her  at  the  White  House,  inquired  with  great 
diligence  and  minuteness  concerning  her  methods  of  communi- 
cating to  the  soldiers  the  gospel  message,  and  the  evidence  of 
their  acceptance  of  the  Saviour. 

Mr.  Lincoln  accepted  without  qualification  the  doctrine  of 

PERSONAL  REGENERATION. 

The  work  of  grace  to  which  the  Saviour  referred  when  he 
said,  "Ye  must  be  born  anew"  (John  3:7),  to  which  the 
Apostle  referred  when  he  said,  "If  any  man  is  in  Christ  he  is 
a  new  creature"  (2  Cor.  5:17),  that  work  which  Mr.  Lincoln 
designated  as  "a  change  of  heart,"  was  to  his  mind  clearly 
taught  by  reason  and  Revelation.  All  that  Mr.  Lincoln  is 
known  to  have  said  respecting  his  own  religious  experiences 
and  standing  bears  witness  to  his  settled  conviction  that  per- 
sonal regeneration  is  included  in  the  work  of  saving  grace  and 
is  indispensable  to  salvation.  His  carefully  guarded  expres- 
sions of  uncertainty  as  to  "the  precise  time"  when  he  was  the 
recipient  of  that  gracious  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  ex- 
perienced "a  change  of  heart,"  as  he  termed  it,  and  his  later 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  FAITH  363 

more  definite  declarations  relative  to  the  same  matter  give 
assurance  of  his  recognition  of  the  necessity  for  such  an  ex- 
perience. His  occasional  reference  to  this  matter  indicates 
that  he  supposed  his  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  regeneration  was 
understood  as  a  matter  of  course.  This  is  confirmed  by  his 
statements  which  appear  in  later  pages  of  this  volume. 


IN  his  statement  before  quoted  Mr.  Roosevelt  employs  a 
very  unusual  word  when  he  says,  "Lincoln  studied  the 
Bible  until  he  mastered  it  absolutely."  It  is  not  often 
that  any  one  is  credited  with  having  "mastered"  a  great  liter- 
ary production,  yet  in  a  carefully  prepared  address  upon  an 
important  occasion,  when  as  chief  magistrate  of  the  nation  he 
occupied  a  position  which  caused  his  words  to  have  peculiar 
weight,  Mr.  Roosevelt  declared  that  Lincoln  had  "mastered 
absolutely"  the  greatest  book  in  existence. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  methods  of  study  were  calculated  to  ac- 
complish the  result  here  claimed  for  him  by  the  former  Presi- 
dent. He  was  always  thorough  in  his  examination  of  every 
subject  that  he  deemed  worthy  of  consideration.  He  care- 
fully read,  diligently  studied  and  pondered  over  volumes  which 
others  hastily  perused.  Thus  he  became  able  to  repeat  verbatim 
extended  passages  from  books  and  other  publications  upon 
which  he  had  bestowed  absorbing  attention.  By  the  same 
painstaking  methods  he  studied  the  Bible  and  by  so  doing  he 
came  into  that  sublime  and  beautiful  faith  in  prayer  which  for 
more  than  half  a  century  has  been  the  marvel  of  the  world. 

When  Mr.  Lincoln  discovered  a  very  skillfully  constructed 
plot  to  secure  by  perjury  a  verdict  against  his  client  in  the 
case  he  was  conducting  for  Father  Chiniquy,  he  said:  "The 
only  way  to  be  sure  of  a  favorable  verdict  tomorrow  is  that  God 
Almighty  will  take  our  part  and  show  your  innocence.  Go  to 
Him  and  pray  for  He  alone  can  save  you."  At  three  o'clock, 
the  next  morning,  Mr.  Lincoln  came  to  Father  Chiniquy's 
room,  and  rinding  him  in  agonizing  and  tearful  prayer,  merrily 
exclaimed:  "Cheer  up,  their  diabolical  plot  is  all  known  and  if 

364 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  365 

they  do  not  fly  away  before  the  dawn  of  day  they  will  surely 
be  lynched.    Bless  the  Lord,  you  are  saved." 

A  little  later,  while  in  conversation  with  Father  Chiniquy, 
he  said:  "The  way  you  have  been  saved  when,  I  confess  it 
again,  I  thought  everything  was  nearly  lost,  is  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  occurrences  I  ever  saw.  It  makes  me  remember 
what  I  have  too  often  forgotten  and  what  my  mother  often 
told  me  when  young — that  our  God  is  a  prayer-hearing  God. 
This  good  thought  sown  into  my  young  heart  by  that  dear 
mother's  hand  was  in  my  mind  when  I  told  you  to  go  and  pray. 
But  I  confess  to  you  that  I  had  not  faith  enough  to  believe  that 
your  prayer  would  be  so  quickly  and  so  marvelously 
answered."1 

HE  ASKED  FOR  PRAYERS 

A  sincere,  earnest  request  to  be  remembered  and  mentioned 
in  the  prayers  which  others  offer  should  be  regarded  as  quite 
as  pronounced  an  expression  of  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer 
as  could  be  stated  in  human  language.  With  some  it  means 
but  little  to  make  a  request  for  prayer,  but  such  was  not  the 
case  with  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  was  a  man  of  such  propor- 
tions, so  broad  and  generous  in  his  human  sympathies,  so  pro- 
found and  earnest  in  his  regard  for  sacred  things,  and  so 
absolutely  sincere,  that  for  him  to  express  a  desire  to  be 
remembered  in  the  prayers  of  others,  meant  all  that  was  in 
his  power  to  express.  The  record  of  his  eventful  life  is 
marked  by  many  such  requests.  Some  of  these  will  be  stated 
in  this  connection,  and  I  must  begin  by  asking  the  reader  to 
stand  with  me,  in  imagination,  in  the  dampness  and  falling 
snow  of  that  nth  of  February,  1861,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  bade 
adieu  to  his  friends  and  neighbors  as  he  started  on  his  journey 
to  Washington  for  his  inauguration  as  President,  and  hear 
him  say:  "To  His  care  commending  you,  as  I  trust  in  your 
prayers  you  will  commend  me,  I  bid  you  an  affectionate  fare- 
well." 

1  Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  pp.  657,  658,  662. 


366     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  just  been  speaking  of  the  assurance  of 
God's  presence  and  of  His  all-sufficient  helpfulness  given  to 
Washington  and  those  associated  with  him;  and  realizing,  as 
he  did,  and  as  he  most  beautifully  stated,  his  own  utter  un- 
fitness  for  the  great  task  before  him  he  turned  with  all  the 
simplicity  and  solemn  earnestness  of  a  devout  and  spiritually 
enlightened  soul  to  the  one  only  source  of  help  in  times  of 
need.  His  whole  confidence  was  in  God  and  with  all  his 
heart  and  soul  he  believed  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer  in  securing 
divine  assistance.  He  believed  in  his  neighbors  and  friends 
who  stood  before  him  and  in  the  potency  of  their  prayers. 
His  heart  yearned  to  be  remembered  by  them  when  they  were 
interceding  with  God  for  the  imperilled  nation.  But  let  us 
not  forget  that  while  his  heart  was  yearning  for  remembrance 
in  their  prayers,  he  did  not,  and  could  not  forget  that  they, 
too,  were  in  need  of  the  presence  and  blessing  of  Omnipotence. 
And  this  doubtless  brought  him  unconsciously  to  an  expression 
of  his  belief  in  what  is  known  as  "communion  in  intercession." 

"There  is  a  place  where  spirits  blend, 
Where  friend  holds  fellowship  with  friend, 
Though  sundered  far,  by  faith  they  meet, 
Around  one  common  Mercy-seat." 

When  interceding  for  a  common  cause  we  have  fellowship 
in  prayer  sweet,  and  comforting.  But  it  was  something  more 
personal,  more  inexpressibly  precious,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  in 
mind.  What  was  in  his  thought  is  often  expressed  in  devo- 
tional conferences  and  testimonies.  No  doubt  Mr.  Lincoln,  on 
many  occasions,  at  social  religious  services  which  he  fre- 
quently attended,  had  heard  the  request  and  promise:  "I  hope 
to  be  remembered  in  your  prayers  and  I  will  not  forget  you 
when  I  pray."  The  thought  expressed  in  that  very  common 
statement  was  the  thought  which  Mr.  Lincoln  clothed  in  such 
incomparably  beautiful  language,  in  the  closing  passage  of 
that  farewell  address. 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  367 

To  doubt  that  his  soul  was  full  to  overflowing  of  the 
sacred  sentiments  which  those  words  expressed;  to  doubt  his 
belief  that  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  the  people  from  whom 
he  was  taking  his  final  leave  much  good  could  and  would 
come  to  him  which  otherwise  might  not  be  received ;  to  doubt 
his  own  firm  faith  that  God  would,  in  answer  to  his  own 
prayers,  minister  good  to  those  from  whom  he  was  about  to  be 
separated,  is  to  dishonor  the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  to 
commit  an  unspeakable  offense  against  the  sacred  truth  of 
which  he  was  a  living  personification. 

If  nothing  else  than  this  beautiful  and  gracious  request 
had  ever  been  spoken  or  written  by  Abraham  Lincoln  respect- 
ing the  subject  of  prayer,  humanity  would  stand  uncovered  in 
his  presence,  overawed  by  his  sublime  and  abiding  faith  in  God 
and  in  scriptural  intercession.  With  bated  breath  an  anxious 
world  listened  to  those  words,  moved  as  it  at  no  other  time 
had  been  with  the  realization  that  God's  chosen  man  was  re- 
sponding to  the  divine  call  and  going  forth  to  tasks  as  great 
as  any  which  in  the  past  had  engaged  the  efforts  of  others, 
and  more  difficult  than  any  which  the  foremost  of  his  con- 
temporaries could  perform.  And  in  harmony  with  this  avowal 
of  his  own  longing  for  the  fellowship  of  intercession,  and  his 
confidence  in  prayer,  there  came  from  his  lips  and  pen,  as 
the  years  went  by,  and  difficulties  accumulated,  and  darkness 
gathered,  expressions  of  a  faith  that  never  faltered  through 
all  the  years  of  his  earthly  life. 

To  the  multitudes  that  came  to  meet  him  as  he  passed 
through  the  great  centers  on  his  journey  to  the  Capital,  he 
spoke  in  terms  and  tones  befitting  such  a  chieftain  at  such  a 
crisis,  and  at  every  point  he  turned  the  thought  of  those  who 
heard  him  to  the  ability  of  God  to  save  the  nation,  and  to 
His  willingness  to  do  so  in  answer  to  the  supplications  of  the 
people. 

As  Mr.  Lincoln  stood  erect  and  hopeful,  although  in  the 
agony  of  ever-darkening  apprehensions,  he  directed  the  thought 
of  the  American  people  to  the  importance  of  seeking  and 


368     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

striving  to  merit  and  secure  the  gracious  favor  of  Almighty 
God  as  in  the  following  impressive  words  of  his  first  official 
declaration:  "Intelligence,  patriotism,  Christianity  and  a  firm 
reliance  on  Him  who  has  never  yet  forsaken  this  favored 
land  are  still  competent  to  adjust,  in  the  best  way,  all  our 
present  needs." 

During  the  months  and  years  that  followed,  the  President's 
calls  of  the  nation  to  their  knees  in  prayer  were  frequent 
and  urgent.  In  many  ways  he  expressed  his  desire  to  be 
remembered  in  the  prayers  of  praying  people.  To  Hon.  L.  E. 
Chittenden,  one  of  his  trusted  counsellors,  he  said:  "It  makes 
me  stronger  and  more  confident  to  know  that  all  Christians 
in  the  loyal  states  are  praying  for  our  success,  that  all  their  in- 
fluences are  working  to  the  same  end.  Thousands  of  them  are 
fighting  for  us,  and  no  one  will  say  that  an  officer  or  a  private 
is  less  brave  because  he  is  a  praying  soldier." 

Dr.  William  H.  Roberts  states  that  during  eighteen 
months  while  a  soldier  in  the  Union  Army  and  stationed  at 
Washington,  he  often  saw  President  Lincoln  at  the  prayer 
meeting  of  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  some- 
times in  the  lecture  room,  and  at  other  times  in  the  pastor's 
study  to  avoid  having  his  hour  of  prayer  interrupted  by  per- 
sons seeking  governmental  favor. 

A  clergyman  from  New  York  during  a  call  at  the  White 
House  said:  "I  have  not  come  to  ask  any  favors  of  you,  Mr. 
President,  I  have  only  come  to  say  that  the  loyal  people  of 
the  North  are  sustaining  you  and  will  continue  to  do  so.  We 
are  giving  you  all  that  we  have, — the  lives  of  our  sons  as  well 
as  our  confidence  and  our  prayers.  You  must  know  that  no 
pious  father  or  mother  ever  kneels  in  prayer  these  days  with- 
out asking  God  to  give  you  strength  and  wisdom. 

"The  tears  filled  Lincoln's  eyes  as  he  thanked  his  visitor 
and  said:  'But  for  those  prayers  I  should  have  faltered  and 
perhaps  failed  long  ago.  Tell  every  father  and  mother  you 
know  to  keep  on  praying  and  I  will  keep  on  fighting,  for  I 
know  that  God  is  on  our  side.' 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  369, 

"As  the  clergyman  started  to  leave  the  room,  Lincoln 
held  him  by  the  hand  and  said:  'I  suppose  I  may  consider  this 
a  sort  of  pastoral  call.' 

"  'Yes,'  replied  the  clergyman. 

"  'Out  in  our  country,'  continued  Lincoln,  'when  a  parson 
makes  a  pastoral  call  it  was  always  the  custom  for  the  folks 
to  ask  him  to  lead  in  prayer,  and  I  should  like  to  ask  you  to 
pray  with  me  today;  pray  that  I  may  have  strength  and  wis- 
dom/ The  two  men  knelt  side  by  side  before  a  settee  and 
the  clergyman  offered  the  most  fervent  appeal  to  the  Almighty 
Power  that  ever  fell  from  his  lips.  As  they  arose,  Lincoln 
grasped  his  visitor's  hand  and  remarked  in  a  satisfied  sort 
of  way, — 

"  'I  feel  better.'  "2 

No  father  will  fail  to  feel  strong  heart  throbs  of  tender 
sympathy  as  he  peruses  the  following  statement  by  Mrs. 
Pomeroy,  the  army  nurse  who  ministered  to  the  Lincoln  family 
at  the  time  of  Willie's  death:  "The  third  day,  and  the  sick 
one's  better,  he  had  to  go  into  his  office,  for  he  had  not  been 
there  for  several  days.  Looking  on  the  little  sufferer  he  said: 
'I  hope  you  will  pray  for  him  and  if  it  is  God's  will,  that  he 
may  be  spared.  And  also  pray  for  me,  for  I  need  the  prayers 
of  many.'  The  fourth  day  and  the  sad  duty  done,  that  of 
laying  his  dear  son  'Willie'  out  of  sight,  my  heart  prompted 
me  to  say,  'Look  up  for  strength,'  and  he  kindly  answered,  'I 
will  go  to  God  with  my  sorrows.'  "3 

Never  in  personal  conversation  did  Abraham  Lincoln  rise 
to  a  higher  level  than  when  he  thus  humbled  himself  before  his 
God  and  became,  for  the  time,  naught  else  but  a  sinful  mortal 
in  need  of  human  intercession  and  divine  grace.  It  was  no 
hard  task  requiring  special  effort  for  the  President  to  issue 
a  proclamation  asking  the  people  to  unite  in  prayer  for  the 
nation,  for  the  army,  and  for  the  government;  but  to  say, 
"Pray  for  me,"  was  a  heroic  act  which  few  men  in  like  position 

2  The  True  Abraham  Lincoln,  pp.  383-384. 

3  Lincoln  Scrap-book,  p.  54. 


3/o     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ever  have  achieved.  How  closely  this  request  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
resembles  that  of  the  great  Apostle  in  his  letter  to  the  Ephe- 
sians,  when  he  says:  "Praying  always  with  all  prayer  and 
supplication  in  the  Spirit  .  .  .  for  all  saints  and  for  me 
also"  (Eph.  6:  18-19)  ;  just  as  his  request  for  the  prayers  of 
his  neighbors  in  his  farewell  address  at  Springfield  resembles 
the  words  of  Paul  to  the  Church  at  Rome,  "Strive  together 
with  me  in  your  prayers  to  God  for  me."4 

Respecting  Mr.  Lincoln's  faith  in  prayer,  and  his  interest 
in  a  personal  religious  experience,  Mrs.  Pomeroy,  through 
William  M.  Thayer,  places  the  world  under  obligations  by  the 
following  statements: 

"He  inquired  very  minutely  into  the  method  of  speaking 
with  sick  and  dying  soldiers — what  she  said  to  them — how 
they  answered  her — how  many  of  them  became  Christians? 
He  accompanied  her  many  times  to  the  hospital  and  witnessed 
her  effective  management  and  talked  with  the  soldiers  and  en- 
couraged them.  On  learning  that  the  managers  of  the  hospital, 
who  were  Roman  Catholics,  had  forbidden  the  Protestant 
nurses  to  pray  with  the  soldiers,  or  read  the  Bible  to  them, 
he  promptly  removed  the  restriction,  and  allowed  Christian 
women  henceforth  to  hold  prayer  meetings,  read  the  Bible  to 
the  'boys'  and  pray  with  them,  as  much  as  they  pleased,  add- 
ing: 'If  there  was  more  praying  and  less  swearing  it  would  be 
far  better  for  our  country,  and  we  all  need  to  be  prayed  for, 
officers  as  well  as  privates,  and  if  I  was  near  death  I  think  I 
should  like  to  hear  prayer.'  "5 

MANY  PRAYED  FOR  HIM 

Next  to  his  own  pastor,  the  Rev.  N.  W.  Miner,  D.D., 
pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Springfield,  Illinois,  may 
be  regarded  as  having  been  Mr.  Lincoln's  most  highly  es- 
teemed friend  and  counsellor  in  religious  matters.  Their  re- 

4  Romans  15 :  30. 

5  William  M.  Thayer,  From  Pioneer  to  White  House,  p.  353. 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  371 

lation  of  personal  friendship  extended  over  a  period  of  many 
years  and  any  word  of  information  from  Dr.  Miner  respect- 
ing Mr.  Lincoln  is  of  special  value.  There  is,  therefore,  pe- 
culiar interest  in  the  following: 

"In  the  early  part  of  the  winter  of  1861,  a  meeting  was 
held  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Springfield,  and  was 
largely  attended  by  the  most  respectable  and  best  people  of 
the  city.  Many  fervent  prayers  were  offered  for  our  beloved 
country,  and  for  the  man  whom  Providence  had  raised  up  to 
guide  the  ship  of  state  over  a  rough  and  stormy  sea.  Mr. 
Lincoln  listened  attentively  to  the  earnest  prayers  which  were 
made  with  thrilling  interest.  At  the  close  of  the  meeting  I 
passed  down  the  aisle  in  which  he  was  standing  and  taking 
me  by  the  hand  he  said,  with  deep  emotion:  'Mr.  Miner,  this 
has  been  a  good  meeting.  I  hardly  know  how  it  could  have 
been  made  better.  I  feel  very  grateful  for  the  prayers  offered 
in  my  behalf  and  hope  they  may  be  answered.'  "6 

Mr.  Lincoln's  expression  of  appreciation  of  the  services 
above  mentioned  is  an  unqualified  declaration  of  his  interest 
in  the  prayer  service  of  the  church. 

In  the  following  Dr.  Miner  tells  of  another  conversation 
with  Mr.  Lincoln,  at  the  White  House: 

"During  my  visit  I  said  to  him:  'Well,  Mr.  Lincoln,  you 
have  this  encouragement.  Christian  people  all  over  the  coun- 
try are  praying  for  you  as  they  never  prayed  for  mortal  man 
before.' 

"I  believe  that,\he  said,  'and  this  is  an  encouraging 
thought  to  me.  If  I  were  not  sustained  by  the  prayers  of 
God's  people  I  could  not  endure  the  constant  pressure.  I 
should  give  up  hoping  for  success.'  "7 

The  following  is  of  rare  value  because  it  contains  a  very 
significant  statement  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  estimate  of  secret  prayer, 
and  also  because  it  comes  from  one  of  his  most  esteemed  and 
cherished  friends: 

"When  reminded  that  he  was  daily  remembered  by  those 
6  Lincoln  Scrap-book,  pp.  51-52.  7Ibid. 


372     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

who  prayed  'not  to  be  heard  of  men,'  as  no  man  ever  had 
before  been  remembered,  he  caught  at  the  homely  phrase  and 
said,  'Yes,  I  like  that  phrase  "not  to  be  heard  of  men,"  and 
guess  it  is  generally  true  as  you  say.  At  least  I  have  been  told 
so  and  I  have  been  a  great  deal  helped  by  just  that  thought.'  "8 

To  the  same  effect  is  the  following: 

"Prayer  can  do  what  armies  cannot,"  suggested  Mrs.  Porn- 
eroy ;  "and  never  were  so  many  prayers  offered  for  a  country 
as  are  offered  for  ours,  and  never  so  many  offered  for  a  ruler 
as  are  offered  for  you,  Mr.  President." 

"I  know  it,"  answered  Mr.  Lincoln,  deeply  moved  by  the 
thought;  "and  it  is  great  encouragement  to  me.  Our  cause  is 
righteous,  and  I  do  believe  that  God  will  give  us  the  victory; 
but  this  slaughtering  of  men  is  dreadful  for  both  sides."9 

On  the  morning  of  Willie's  funeral,  Mrs.  Pomeroy  ex- 
pressed her  deep  sympathy  for  him,  and  called  his  attention  to 
the  many  prayers  going  up  for  him.  "I  am  glad  to  hear  that," 
he  answered  wiping  away  his  tears;  "I  want  they  should  pray 
for  me.  I  need  their  prayers.  I  will  try  to  go  to  God  with  my 
sorrows."10 

It  would  be  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  significance  in 
this  connection  of  the  following  charming  incident: 

"The  last  week  in  January,  1864,  the  Sanitary  Commission 
held  a  four  days'  session  in  Washington,  at  the  conclusion  of 
which  between  forty  and  fifty  of  the  ladies  went  in  a  body  to 
call  upon  the  President.  As  related  by  one  of  the  ladies  pres- 
ent, he  took  each  by  the  hand  in  the  usual  perfunctory  manner, 
until  it  became  the  turn  of  a  little  Quaker  lady  from  Phila- 
delphia. 

"She  had  to  rise  on  tiptoe  to  reach  his  hand.  As  she  did 
so  her  voice  uttered  some  words  I  did  not  catch  but  their 
effect  I  saw. 

"As  when  lights  suddenly  blaze  behind  a  cathedral's  win- 

8.Noah  Brooks,  in  Harper's  Magazine  for  July,  1865,  p.  226. 

9  From  Pioneer  Home  to  White  House,  pp.  349-350. 

10  Ibid.,  p.  351. 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  373 

dows,  flashing  beauty  where  was  but  formless  dullness,  so  the 
soul  of  light  illuminated  these  rugged  features  and  poured 
from  the  wonderful  eyes.  The  gaunt  and  bent  form  straight- 
ened, even  the  angles  seemed  to  fill  out  and  cause  the  figure  to 
assume  the  proportions  which  nature  had  intended.  The 
mouth  became  even  beautiful  in  its  sweetness.  As  the  trans- 
figured face  bent  above  the  upturned  bonnet  of  the  little 
Quaker  lady,  whose  features  it  hid  from  us,  a  stream  of 
blessing  seemed  to  flow  from  his  face  to  hers. 

"While  he  still  held  her  hand  she  said  to  him:  'Yes,  Friend 
Abraham,  thee  need  not  think  thee  stands  alone.  We  are  all 
praying  for  thee.  All  our  hearts,  the  hearts  of  all  the  people 
are  behind  thee,  and  thee  cannot  fail.  The  Lord  has  appointed 
thee,  the  Lord  will  sustain  thee,  and  the  people  love  thee.  Yea, 
as  no  other  man  was  ever  loved  before  does  this  people  love 
thee.  We  are  only  a  few  weak  women,  but  we  represent  many. 
Take  comfort,  Friend  Abraham,  God  is  with  thee.  The  peo- 
ple are  behind  thee.' 

"  'I  know  it,'  replied  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  great  soft  voice  roll- 
ing solemnly  and  sweetly  forth  from  the  trembling  lips;  'I 
know  it.  If  I  did  not  have  that  knowledge,  it  is  not  hope,  it 
is  knowledge,  the  knowledge  that  God  is  sustaining  and  will 
sustain  me  until  my  appointed  work  is  done,  I  could  not  live. 
If  I  did  not  believe  that  the  hearts  of  loyal  people  were  with 
me,  I  could  not  endure  it.  My  heart  would  have  broken  long 
ago.  It  is  that  blessed  knowledge  and  that  blessed  relief  that 
holds  me  to  my  work.  This  has  been  a  sad  day,  and  I  was  al- 
most overwhelmed  when  you  came  in.  You  have  given  a  cup 
of  cold  water  to  a  very  thirsty  and  grateful  man.  Ladies,  you 
have  done  me  a  great  kindness  today.  I  knew  it  before.  I 
knew  that  good  men  and  women  were  praying  for  me,  but  I 
was  so  tired  I  had  almost  forgotten.  God  bless  you  all.'  "" 

11  Helen  Everston  Smith,  one  of  the  commissioners,  in  The  Independent, 
1900,  pp.  435-436. 


374     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

PRAYER  WITH  HIM 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  at  a  time  when  the  nation's 
life  was  in  such  great  peril,  leading  men  at  Washington,  and 
in  other  parts  of  the  country  were  engaged  in  a  conspiracy 
to  give  aid  and  comfort  to  those  who  were  in  rebellion  and  to 
make  more  difficult  the  efforts  which  were  being  made  to  pre- 
serve the  Union. 

But  such  was  the  case  as  all  know  who  are  at  all  familiar 
with  the  history  of  those  times.  At  one  of  the  meetings  held 
by  the  leaders  of  that  disloyal  movement,  as  was  usual  at  such 
gatherings,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  denounced  with  great  vehemence 
and  malignity.  After  listening  to  those  denunciations  for  a 
time  one  of  their  number  arose  and  said: 

"I  was  up  at  the  White  House,  having  called  to  see  the 
President  on  business.  I  was  shown  into  the  office  of  his 
private  secretary,  and  told  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  busy  just  then, 
but  would  be  disengaged  in  a  short  time.  While  waiting  I 
heard  a  very  earnest  prayer  being  uttered  in  a  loud  female 
voice  in  the  adjoining  room.  I  inquired  what  it  meant,  and 
was  told  that  an  old  Quaker  lady,  a  friend  of  the  President's, 
had  called  that  afternoon  and  taken  tea  at  the  White  House, 
and  that  she  was  then  praying  with  Mr.  Lincoln.  After  the 
lapse  of  a  few  minutes  the  prayer  ceased,  and  the  President 
accompanied  by  a  Quakeress  not  less  than  eighty  years  old, 
entered  the  room  where  I  was  sitting.  I  made  up  my  mind 
then,  gentlemen,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  a  bad  man;  and  I 
don't  think  it  will  be  easy  to  efface  the  impression  that  the  scene 
I  witnessed  and  the  voice  I  heard  made  on  my  mind." 

Father  Charles  Chiniquy,  at  the  close  of  his  account  of 
an  interview  with  the  President,  says: 

"Never  had  I  heard  such  sublime  words,  never  had  I  seen 
a  human  face  so  solemn  and  so  prophet-like  as  the  face  of  the 
President  when  uttering  these  things.  Every  sentence  had 
come  to  me  as  a  hymn  from  heaven,  reverberated  by  the  echoes 

13  F.  B.  Carpenter,  Six  Months  in  the  White  House,  p.  191. 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  375 

of  the  mountains  of  Pisgah  and  Calvary.  I  was  beside  my- 
s  If.  Bathed  in  tears,  I  tried  to  say  something,  but  I  could 
not  utter  a  word.  I  knew  the  hour  to  leave  had  come.  I  asked 
from  the  President  permission  to  fall  on  my  knees  and  pray 
with  him  that  his  life  might  be  spared;  and  he  knelt  with  me. 
But  I  prayed  more  with  my  tears  and  sobs  than  with  my  words. 
Then  I  pressed  his  hand  on  my  lips  and  bathed  it  with  tears, 
and  with  a  heart  filled  with  unspeakable  desolation  I  bade  him 
adieu.  It  was  for  the  last  time,  for  the  hour  was  fast  ap- 
proaching when  he  was  to  fall  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin,  for 
his  nation's  sake."14 

The  following  is  descriptive  of  a  scene  in  the  White  House 
during  a  visit  of  some  leaders  of  the  Friends'  Church: 

"The  good  man  rested  his  head  upon  his  hands  and  under  a 
precious  gathering  influence  I  knelt  in  solemn  prayer.  He 
knelt  close  beside  me  and  I  felt  that  his  heart  went  with  every 
word  as  utterance  was  given.  I  afterwards  addressed  him  and 
when  we  rose  to  go  he  shook  my  hand  heartily  and  thanked  me 
for  the  visit."15 

Brigadier  General  James  F.  Rusling,  in  his  charming  book, 
"Men  and  Things  I  Saw  in  Civil  War  Days,"  p.  417,  places  us 
all  under  obligations  by  the  following: 

"Bishop  Edmund  Janes  testified  that:  'Many  times  during 
the  war,  when  I  visited  Lincoln  in  his  private  office  in  Wash- 
ington, he  said:  "Do  not  go,  Bishop,  until  you  have  prayed 
with  me.  We  need  your  prayers  and  the  divine  direction  in 
these  critical  hours,"  and  so  time  after  time  I  knelt  by  Mr. 
Lincoln  in  the  White  House  when  we  two  were  alone,  and 
carried  the  cause  of  the  Union  and  the  needs  of  the  President's 
anxious  heart  and  of  our  distracted  country  to  the  Lord  in 
prayer.' ' 

Similar  to  the  event  mentioned  by  General  Rusling  is  the 
following  by  Rev.  Edgar  Dewitt  Jones,  in  the  Homiletic  Re- 
view, for  1909,  p.  156:  "To  Bishop  Simpson,  who  called  once 

14  Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  pp.  706-711. 
16  Friends'  Review,  Lincoln  Scrap-book,  p.  51. 


376     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

when  the  clouds  were  thickest  Lincoln  said:  'Bishop,  I  feel 
the  need  of  prayer  as  never  before.  Please  pray  for  me,'  and 
the  two  men  then  fell  on  their  knees  in  prayer  to  God  for 
strength  and  guidance." 

A  PRAYING  PRESIDENT 

The  strongest  evidence  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  faith  in  the  ef- 
ficacy of  prayer  was  his  own  devout  prayerfulness. 

Of  the  twenty-six  men  who,  by  election  or  succession, 
have  occupied  the  position  of  President  of  the  United  States, 
Abraham  Lincoln  is  the  only  one  who  could  fittingly  be 
designated,  "The  Praying  President."  Some  were  earnest 
Christians,  others  held  official  positions  in  the  Church  and  were 
active  in  religious  work,  but  Lincoln  alone  lays  bare  to  us  his 
soulful  and  secret  intercessions  with  God  in  prayer,  and  yet 
no  one  of  our  chief  magistrates  possessed  a  larger  measure 
than  did  Abraham  Lincoln  of  that  delicate  sensibility  that 
would  naturally  cause  him  to  keep  closed  the  door  of  his 
closet  of  secret  prayer.  No  one  would  have  been  more  in- 
clined than  he  to  avoid  unnecessary  mention  of  religious  mat- 
ters in  conversation,  public  address,  or  state  papers.  Under 
the  tremendous  strain  and  stress  of  his  presidential  duties  he 
was  often  pressed  to  his  knees;  and  happily  for  us  there  are 
times  when  he  invites  us  into  the  inner  sanctuary  of  his  confi- 
dent and  constant  dependence  upon  God,  and  reveals  his  habit 
of  frequent  and  fervent  prayer. 

So  clear  and  emphatic,  so  many  and  unreserved  are  his 
declarations  respecting  his  confidence  in  God,  his  submission 
to  the  divine  will,  and  his  assurance  that  in  His  own  good 
time  our  Heavenly  Father  would  give  victory  and  restore  peace 
to  the  nation,  that,  mingled  with  the  tumult  of  the  battlefield, 
we  can  hear  the  voice  of  earnest  entreaty  coming  from  the 
secret  sanctuary  of  the  White  House  and  ascending  to  the 
throne  of  God.  And  sometimes  during  the  silence  of  the  mid- 
night hour,  when  weary  soldiers  rested  on  the  fields  stained 
with  their  own  blood  and  with  the  blood  of  their  fallen  com- 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  377 

rades,  awaiting  the  renewed  assaults  the  morning's  gray  dawn 
was  sure  to  bring,  the  all-night  vigils  of  "the  Praying  Presi- 
dent" were  divided  between  the  sound  of  the  heavy  tread  of  his 
tireless  feet,  as  he  strode  from  wall  to  wall  of  his  private  room, 
and  those  recurring  seasons  of  oppressive  silence  which  we 
have  come  to  know  he  spent  upon  his  knees  in  prayer. 

In  his  own  lucid  language  and  with  becoming  modesty  he 
tells  us  the  grounds  on  which  he  claimed  divine  interposition, 
the  specific  favors  he  sought,  and  his  own  solemn  vows  before 
God.  We  have  but  to  read  and  meditate  upon  his  own  words 
respecting  his  prayerful  life,  and  his  life  of  prayer,  to  be 
able  to  recognize  in  every  favorable  issue  of  battle,  every 
wise  measure  of  administration,  and  the  final  triumph  of 
right,  the  ever-present  and  potential  influence  of  our  mother- 
taught,  Bible-built,  Spirit-led  President  in  his  "power  with 
God"  in  prayer. 

That  the  God-fearing  people  of  the  nation  were  also  in 
prayer  does  not  weaken  our  claim  that  the  most  fitting  picture* 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  is  one  which  represents  him  upon  his 
knees  in  prayer,  and  that,  as  the  world  meditates  more  deeply 
upon  his  own  solemn  words,  and  upon  the  testimony  of  those 
who  knew  him  best,  he  will  more  and  more  come  to  be  remem- 
bered, recognized  and  revered  as  "the  Praying  President"  of 
the  United  States. 

The  prayer  fulness  which  characterized  Mr.  Lincoln's  life 
in  the  White  House  began  before  his  election  as  President. 
Dr.  Newton  Bateman  tells  us  that  during  an  interview  in 
October,  1860,  "he  freely  stated  his  belief  in  the  duty,  privilege 
and  efficacy  of  prayer,  and  intimated  in  no  unmistakable  terms 
that  he  had  sought  in  that  way  the  divine  guidance  and 
favor."16 

Mrs.  Lincoln  states  that  on  the  morning  of  his  first  in- 
auguration, "He  read  his  inaugural  address  to  his  family,  and 
after  having  read  it,  he  requested  to  be  left  alone.  The  door 
stood  ajar,  and  his  friends  distinctly  heard  him  in  prayer,  com- 
16  John  G.  Holland,  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  238.  *See  p.  385. 


378    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

mending  himself,  his  country,  and  his  family  to  the  care  and 
protection  of  God.  The  weight  of  responsibility  laid  upon  him 
was  too  great  for  his  human  heart  to  bear  alone."17 

It  was  not  alone  on  great  occasions  like  that  of  his  inaugura- 
tion that  Mr.  Lincoln  turned  to  God  in  prayer.  He  prayed 
"at  all  seasons."  Noah  Brooks,  who,  but  for  the  President's 
assassination  would  have  been  one  of  his  confidential  secre- 
taries, in  a  letter  to  Rev.  J.  A.  Reed,  states  that  Mr.  Lincoln  in- 
formed him  "that  after  he  went  to  the  White  House  he  kept 
up  the  habit  of  daily  prayer.  Sometimes  he  said  it  was  only 
ten  words  but  those  ten  words  he  had."18 

Hon.  John  G.  Nicolay,  one  of  the  President's  private  sec- 
retaries, who 'knew  him  as  fully  as  was  the  privilege  of  any 
man,  says:  "Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  praying  man;  I  know  that  to 
be  a  fact.  And  I  have  heard  him  request  people  to  pray  for 
him,  which  he  would  not  have  done  had  he  not  believed  that 
prayer  is  answered.  Many  a  time  have  I  heard  Mr.  Lincoln 
ask  ministers  and  Christian  women  to  pray  for  him,  and  he 
did  not  do  this  for  effect.  He  was  no  hypocrite,  and  had  such 
reverence  for  sacred  things  that  he  would  not  trifle  with  them. 
I  have  heard  him  say  that  he  prayed."19 

Of  the  many  whose  testimony  respecting  Mr.  Lincoln's 
character  and  private  life  is  of  interest  and  value,  there  are 
none  whose  words  should  have  greater  weight  with  the  reader 
than  those  of  Major  J.  B.  Merwin,  who,  for  many  years 
previous  to  the  war  and  during  all  the  period  of  that  great 
struggle  was  intimately  associated  with  Mr.  Lincoln.  They 
wrought  together  in  the  early  and  later  fifties  in  behalf  of  anti- 
liquor  legislation  and  the  cause  of  temperance  in  general.  And 
during  all  the  period  of  the  war  Major  Merwin  was  on  such 
relations  of  intimacy  with  the  President  as  might  be  expected 
from  their  relations  and  fellowship  during  preceding  years. 

17  William  M.  Thayer,  From  Pioneer  Home  to  White  House,  pp.  334-335. 

18  Scribne/s  Magazine,  1873,  p.  333. 

"  William  Eleroy  Curtis,  The  True  Abraham  Lincoln,  pp.  385-386. 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  379 

In  October,  1910,  Major  Merwin,  then  living  at  Middlefield, 
Conn.,  wrote  as  follows: 

"I  knew  Mr.  Lincoln  intimately  from  1854  on  to  the  day 
of  his  assassination.  Dined  with  him  that  day.  He  came  to 
be  one  of  the  most  profoundly  Christian  men  I  ever  knew.  He 
had  no  religious  cant  about  him  at  all.  I  heard  and  saw  Mr. 
Lincoln  pray  often.  He  was  divinely  aided,  and  asked — 
begged — for  such  guidance,  conscious  of  his  own  need  of  help 
beyond  any  human  aid."20 

Coming  as  it  does  from  a  man  of  such  great  ability,  exalted 
character  ah.l  personal  fellowship  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  was 
the  case  with  Judge  Henry  C.  Whitney,  the  following  touches 
our  heart  very  deeply: 

"We  sadly  know  that  too  many  Christians  pray  perfuncto- 
rily, simply  to  pray — to  observe  the  Christian  habit  and 
fashion ;  but  Lincoln  did  not  pray  as  a  form,  or  as  an  end.  His 
prayers  were  for  a  utilitarian  purpose  and  object — to  obtain 
help  in  time  of  dire  need.  He  says,  'I  have  been  driven  many 
times  upon  my  knees  by  the  overwhelming  conviction  that  I 
had  nowhere  else  to  go ;  my  own  wisdom  and  that  of  all  about 
me  seemed  insufficient  for  that  day.'  " 

"His  prayers  were  not  as  those  of  the  hypocrites  'who 
stand  and  pray  in  the  synagogues  and  in  the  corners  of  the 
streets  that  they  may  be  seen  of  men/  nor  did  he  'use  vain 
repetitions  as  the  heathen  do,'  but  he  entered  into  his  closet 
and  when  he  had  shut  the  door  prayed  to  his  Father  in 
secret."21 

Of  Lincoln's  habitual  prayerfulness,  Judge  Whitney  thus 
testifies:  "He  believed  in  the  direct  intervention  of  God  in  our 
national  affairs,  and  he  frequently  used  to  ask  Him  in  a 
direct,  manly  way  to  grant  this  boon,  avert  that  disaster,  or 
advise  him  what  to  do  in  a  given  contingency."22 

Dr.  Robert  Browne  publishes  the  following  declaration  of 

20  What  was  Abraham  Lincoln's  Religion?  p.  26. 

21  Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln,  pp.  270-271. 

22  Lincoln,  the  Citizen,  p.  207. 


380     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Mr.  Lincoln's:  "I  have  talked  with  God.  It  is  His  cause,  and 
the  Union  is  His.  As  He  willeth,  so  it  will  be.  We  can  but 
follow  and  pray  for  its  integrity  and  for  mercy  to  the  fallen."23 
After  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run,  President  Lincoln 
said :  "I  have  done  as  well  as  I  could.  I  prayed  to  God  to  direct 
me  the  right  way  and  now  I  must  leave  the  consequences  to 
Him." 

PRAYER  AND  PRAISE 

Upon  one  occasion  while  sitting  at  dinner  he  could  not 
eat,  being  so  full  of  trouble.  Arousing  himself  from  his  rev- 
erie he  remarked:  "The  battle  of  Port  Hudson  is  now  going  on 
and  many  lives  will  be  sacrificed  on  both  sides,  but  I  have 
done  the  best  I  could  trusting  in  God ;  for  it  will  be  unfortunate 
if  they  gain  this  important  point.  And  on  the  other  hand  if 
we  can  only  gain  it  we  shall  gain  much  and  I  think  we  shall 
for  we  have  a  great  deal  to  thank  God  for,  for  we  have  Vicks- 
burg  and  Gettysburg  already."  Mrs.  Rebecca  Pomeroy,  whom 
I  am  quoting,  adds:  "Said  I  to  this  great,  good  man,  'Mr. 
Lincoln,  prayer  will  do  what  nothing  else  will.  Can  you  not 
pray?'  'Yes,  I  will,'  and  while  the  tears  were  dropping  from 
his  haggard  and  worn-out  face,  he  said,  'Pray  for  me.'  And  he 
went  to  his  room,  and  could  the  nation  have  heard  his  earnest 
petition,  as  I  did,  they  would  have  fallen  on  their  knees  in 
reverential  sympathy.  At  twelve  o'clock  at  night  while  the 
soldiers  were  guarding  the  house,  the  sentinel  riding  by, 
quickly  halted  in  front  of  the  house  with  a  telegram  that  was 
carried  to  the  President.  In  a  few  minutes  after  the  door 
opened  and  the  President,  standing  under  the  chandelier,  with 
one  of  the  sweetest  expressions  I  ever  saw  him  wear,  said: 
'Good  news ;  good  news ;  Port  Hudson  is  ours.  The  victory  is 
ours  and  God  is  good.'  Said  I  to  him,  'Nothing  like  prayer  in 
times  of  trouble.'  'Oh,  yes,  yes,  praise,  for  prayer  and  praise 
go  together.'  "24 

23  Abraham  Lincoln  and  the  Men  of  his  Time,  Vol.  II.,  p.  378. 
z*  Lincoln  Scrap-book,  p.  54. 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  381 

EARLY  MORNING  VIGIL 

The  full  history  of  President  Lincoln's  midnight  medita- 
tions and  prayers,  and  of  his  early  morning  vigils,  read  like  a 
romance  in  this  age  of  easy  living  and  limited  religious  fervor 
— as  also  reads  the  story  of  the  lonely  struggles  of  Jesus  Christ. 
We  can  scarcely  imagine  that  necessities  could  so  weigh  upon 
us,  and  the  sense  of  helplessness  and  dependence  upon  God 
could  be  so  keenly  realized  as  to  cause  us  to  spend  hours  needed 
for  rest  in  solitary  places  and  in  communion  with  the  Father. 

The  Gospel  record  of  the  Saviour's  early  morning  vigil, 
"In  the  morning  rising  up  a  great  while  before  day,  He  went 
out  and  departed  into  a  solitary  place  and  there  prayed,"  is  a 
fitting  prelude  to  the  following: 

"A  distinguished  lawyer  of  New  York  who  is  a  professing 
Christian  and  an  intimate  friend  of  my  informant  had  occa- 
sion some  time  since  to  see  the  President  in  Washington.  He 
went  to  the  White  House,  met  Mr.  Lincoln  and  asked  for  an 
interview  of  an  hour.  Mr.  Lincoln  said  that  the  pressure  of 
public  duties  forced  him  to  decline  such  an  interview.  He 
urged  that  it  was  important.  The  President  still  declined.  The 
gentleman  was  leaving  when  Mr.  Lincoln  stopped  him  and 
asked  if  he  would  be  willing  to  come  at  five  o'clock  the  next 
morning.  He  gladly  agreed  to  do  so  and  arrived  at  the  White 
House  the  next  morning  as  he  supposed  at  five  o'clock. 

"On  consulting  his  watch  at  the  street  lamp  he  found  he 
had  made  a  mistake  of  an  hour  and  that  it  was  only  four 
o'clock.  He  determined  to  walk  about  the  grounds  until  the 
time  agreed  upon.  Coming  near  a  window  of  one  of  the 
rooms  of  the  Presidential  Mansion  he  heard  sounds  of  ap- 
parent distress.  On  listening  he  found  it  was  the  voice  of  the 
President  engaged  in  an  agony  of  prayer.  The  burden  of  his 
petition  was,  'Oh !  God,  I  cannot  see  my  way.  Give  me  light. 
I  am  ignorant,  give  me  wisdom.  Teach  me  what  to  do  and  help 
me  to  do  it.  Our  country  is  in  peril.  Oh!  God,  it  is  Thy 
country,  save  it  for  Christ's  sake.' 


382     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

"Here  the  gentleman  felt  his  position  to  be  questionable  and 
passing  on  he  left  the  President  with  his  God.  On  entering 
the  White  House  he  mentioned  what  he  had  heard  to  the 
usher,  who  informed  him  that  the  President  spent  the  hour 
between  four  and  five  every  morning  in  prayer."25 

PRAYER  ANSWERED 

It  is  beyond  all  question  that  much  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  re- 
markable wisdom,  and  his  superiority  to  his  fellows,  which 
usually  are  attributed  to  his  transcendent  genius,  were  due  to 
his  familiarity  with  the  Bible,  his  constant  fellowship  with 
God,  and  the  promptings  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

The  Sanitary  Commission,  with  all  its  complicated  ma- 
chinery and  its  measureless  influence  for  good,  is  usually  re- 
garded as  a  product  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  heart  and  brain.  But 
that  Commission  was  the  achievement  of  more  than  human 
wisdom  as  is  shown  by  the  following  from  Dr.  Iglehart: 

"In  my  study  at  Buffalo,  the  officers  of  the  Church,  after 
the  business  of  an  evening  had  been  transacted,  fell  into  an  in- 
formal discussion  of  the  subject  of  Lincoln's  religion.  One 
claimed  that  Lincoln  was  a  rank  atheist.  Another  said  he 
was  inclined  to  think  him  an  unbeliever,  especially  since  he 
had  read  what  Lincoln's  old  law  partner  had  said  on  the  sub- 
ject. Most  of  those  present  held  the  opinion  that  he  was  a  man 
of  faith  and  prayer,  a  true  Christian.  I  suggested  that  the 
difference  of  opinion  on  the  subject  grew  out  of  the  fact  that 
early  in  life  Lincoln,  like  many  others,  had  a  period  of  un- 
belief, when  he  said  and  wrote  some  things  unfriendly  to 
Christianity,  but  that  when  he  came  up  to  the  tremendous 
responsibilities  of  leadership  that  were  laid  upon  him,  he 
leaned  hard  upon  the  Divine  arm,  and  sought  and  found  divine 
guidance,  and  that  in  character  and  life  he  proved  himself  to 
be  a  tr>  o  Christian.  Dr.  (David)  Hill,  a  trustee,  who  had  been 
silent  up  to  this  time  said:  "Brethren,  I  think  I  can  settle  the 

25  Rev.  John  Falkner  Blake,  Rector  of  Christ  Church,  Bridgeport,  Conn., 
in  a  sermon  delivered  April  iQth,  1865. 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  383 

question  and  put  at  rest  any  doubt  of  the  great  President's 
faith.  During  the  war  there  was  a  reception  given  at  the 
White  House  to  the  members  of  the  Sanitary  Commission. 
I  was  present.  During  the  evening  I  took  the  opportunity  to 
compliment  President  Lincoln  on  the  wonderful  success  of  the 
Commission.  He  said,  'Doctor,  would  you  like  to  know  how 
this  institution  was  started?'  'I  certainly  would,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent,' said  I.  He  continued,  'One  rainy  night  I  could  not 
sleep;  the  wounds  of  the  soldiers  and  sailors  distressed  me; 
their  pains  pierced  my  heart,  and  I  asked  God  to  show  me 
how  they  could  have  better  relief.  After  wrestling  some  time 
in  prayer,  He  put  the  plans  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  in  my 
mind,  and  they  have  been  carried  out  pretty  much  as  God 
gave  them  to  me  that  night.  Doctor,  thank  our  kind  heavenly 
Father  and  not  me  for  the  Sanitary  Commission.'  'Do  you 
think,'  said  Dr.  Hill,  'that  a  man  that  would  do  or  talk  that 
way  could  be  anything  but  a  true  believer.  Gentlemen,  if  those 
of  us  who  are  leaders  in  the  Church,  shall  have  as  much  real 
religion  as  President  Lincoln  had  we  will  have  very  little 
difficulty  in  getting  to  heaven.'  After  Dr.  Hill  had  spoken 
there  was  nothing  more  to  be  said  on  the  subject  and  it  was 
unanimously  agreed  that  Lincoln  was  a  true  believer  in  God 
and  in  His  holy  religion." 

This  charming  and  instructive  story,  as  it  here  appears, 
was  recently  sent  me  by  the  narrator,  Rev.  F.  C.  Iglehart,  D.D., 
w:  ".  'riter  granting  permission  to  reproduce  it.  It  is  unsur- 
pas-cr  '-.  'is  disclosure  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  belief  in  a  God  who 
hears  and  answers  prayer. 

With  peculiar  satisfaction  I  call  attention  of  the  reader  to 
an  incident  made  public  by  the  distinguished  elocutionist  and 
lecturer,  James  F.  Murdoch.  W«  can  never  know  the  full 
extent  of  the  nation's  obligations  to  that  distinguished  patriot. 
It  was  my  privilege  to  be  active  in  the  stirring  events  with 
which  he  was  connected,  and  I  know  much  of  his  patriotic 
sacrifices  and  services.  When  the  exigencies  of  the  nation 
seemed  to  require  of  him  the  sacrifice,  he  turned  aside  from 


384    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

lucrative  employment  and  devoted  his  time,  talent  and  income 
to  the  nation's  needs.  His  matchless  talent  as  a  reader,  his 
personal  integrity,  and  his  known  devotion  to  the  country 
caused  Mr.  Murdoch  to  be  held  in  high  esteem  during  the 
years  of  my  residence  at  Washington.  No  hall  was  sufficiently 
large  to  hold  the  audience  that  would  gather  when  it  was  an- 
nounced that  in  the  interest  of  some  patriotic  movement  Mr. 
Murdoch  would  give  an  entertainment.  I  still  can  hear  in 
memory  the  loud  and  prolonged  applause  with  which  his  ap- 
pearance on  the  platform  was  always  greeted,  and  with  which 
his  rendering  of  Barbara  Frietchie,  Sheridan's  Ride,  and  like 
readings  were  responded  to  by  the  multitude  who  heard  him. 

Mr.  Lincoln  appreciated  Mr.  Murdoch's  services  and  when 
convenient  delighted  to  have  him  as  his  guest  at  the  White 
House. 

The  editor  of  The  Advance  tells  this  never-to-be-forgotten 
story  which  he  had  from  his  lips:  "I  spent  three  weeks  in  the 
White  House  with  Mr.  Lincoln  as  his  guest.  One  night,  it 
was  just  after  the  Battle  of  Bull  Run,  I  was  restless  and  could 
not  sleep.  I  was  repeating  the  part  which  I  was  to  take  in  a 
public  performance.  The  hour  was  past  midnight,  indeed  it 
was  coming  near  the  dawn,  when  I  heard  low  tones  proceed- 
ing from  a  private  room  near  where  the  President  slept.  The 
door  was  partly  open.  I  saw  the  President  kneeling  beside 
an  open  window.  The  light  was  turned  low  in  the  room  His 
back  was  toward  me.  For  a  moment  I  was  silent,  In  |.:<-  ,>  in 
amazement  and  wonder.  Then  he  cried  out  in  tone;  ::/..  ..lead- 
ing and  sorrowful:  'O,  thou  God  that  heard  Solomon  .n  the 
night  when  he  prayed  for  wisdom,  hear  me.  1  cannot  lead  this 
people,  I  cannot  guide  the  affairs  of  this  nation  without  Thy 
help.  I  am  poor,  and  weak  and  sinful.  O  God,  who  didst 
hear  Solomon  when  he  cried  for  wisdom,  hear  me  and  save  this 
nation.'  " 

Then  Mr.  Murdoch  adds:  "I  think  from  that  time  the 
clouds  which  had  hung  low  and  threatening  over  the  affairs  of 
our  government,  began  to  roll  away ;  the  skies  were  brighter ; 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  385 

the  smile  of  heaven  was  upon  our  President.    God  heard  his 
prayer  and  sent  deliverance."26 

Those  who  would  know  Abraham  Lincoln  must  see  him  in 
his  secret  chamber  on  his  knees  before  Almighty  God,  as  Mur- 
doch did,  and  must,  as  did  that  distinguished  patriot,  hear  him 
pray. 

The  Rev.  F.  C.  Monfort,  D.D.,  editor  and  publisher  of  The 
Herald  and  Presbyter,  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  on  May  2nd,  1914, 
wrote  me  as  follows: 

"I  studied  elocution  under  James  F.  Murdoch  and  talked 
with  him  frequently.  I  have  heard  him  tell  the  story  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln's  prayer  which  he  overheard.  1  do  not  remember 
details  nor  even  where  he  was,  though  the  impression  is  in  my 
mind  that  he  was  a  visitor  at  the  White  House." 

But  of  all  the  testimonies  regarding  President  Lincoln's 
religious  faith  and  life  the  greatest  and  best  is  a  declaration 
made  by  him  to  General  Daniel  E.  Sickles  on  July  5th,  1863. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg  was 
fought  on  the  ist,  2nd,  and  3rd  of  July,  1863,  and  that  General 
Sickles,  while  in  command  of  the  Third  Corps  in  that  battle, 
received  a  severe  wound  requiring  the  amputation  of  one  of  his 
legs.  On  the  Sunday  following  the  battle  General  Sickles  was 
in  the  hospital  at  Washington  and  was  called  upon  by  General 
James  F.  Rusling,  a  member  of  his  staff,  who  states  that  soon 
after  his  arrival  President  Lincoln  came  "with  his  son  'Tad' 
and  remained  an  hour  or  more."  General  Rusling  states  that 
during  this  visit  General  Sickles  inquired  of  the  President  if 
he  were  anxious  respecting  the  results  of  the  battle  at  Gettys- 
burg. What  followed  this  inquiry  is  thus  stated  and  confirmed 
by  both  General  Rusling  and  General  Sickles: 

In  reply  to  a  question  from  General  Sickles  whether  or  not 
the  President  was  anxious  about  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg, 
Lincoln  gravely  said:  "No,  sir,  I  was  not;  some  of  my  Cabinet 
and  many  others  in  Washington  were,  but  I  had  no  fears." 
General  Sickles  inquired  how  this  was,  and  seemed  curious 
*"  The  Presbyterian,  April  sth,  1893. 


386     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

about  it.  Mr.  Lincoln  hesitated,  but  finally  said:  "Well,  I  will 
tell  you  how  it  was.  In  the  pinch  of  your  campaign  up  there, 
when  everybody  seemed  panic-stricken,  and  nobody  could  tell 
what  was  going  to  happen,  oppressed  by  the  gravity  of  our 
affairs,  I  went  to  my  room  one  day,  and  locked  the  door,  and 
got  down  on  my  knees  before  Almighty  God,  and  prayed  to 
Him  mightily  for  victory  at  Gettysburg.  I  told  Him  that  this 
was  His  war,  and  our  cause  His  cause,  but  we  could  not  stand 
another  Fredericksburg  or  Chancellorsville.  And  I  then  and 
there  made  a  solemn  vow  to  Almighty  God,  that  if  He  would 
stand  by  our  boys  at  Gettysburg,  I  would  stand  by  Him.  And 
He  did  stand  by  you  boys,  and  I  will  stand  by  Him.  And  af  Ler 
that,  I  don't  know  how  it  was  and  I  can't  explain  it,  soon  a 
sweet  comfort  crept  into  my  soul  that  Almighty  God  had 
taken  the  whole  business  into  His  own  hands  and  that  things 
would  go  all  right  at  Gettysburg.  And  that  is  why  I  had  no 
fears  about  you." 

Asked  concerning  Vicksburg,  the  news  of  which  victory 
had  not  yet  reached  him,  he  said:  "I  have  been  praying  for 
Vicksburg  also,  and  believe  our  heavenly  Father  is  going  to 
give  us  the  victory  there,  too."  Of  course,  he  did  not  know 
that  Vicksburg  had  already  surrendered  the  day  before.  Gen- 
eral Rusling  says  that  Mr.  Lincoln  spoke  "calmly  and  pathet- 
ically, as  if  from  the  depths  of  his  heart,"  and  that  "his  man- 
ner was  deeply  touching." 

The  story  of  the  Lincoln-Sickles  interview  was  first  told, 
as  I  believe,  soon  after  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg,  by  General 
Sickles  himself  in  an  address  at  a  banquet  in  Washington, 
D.  C.  It  was  subsequently  written  out  with  care  by  General 
Rusling  and  published  as  it  here  appears,  and  on  the  nth  of 
February,  1911,  General  Sickles,  who  has  since  passed  away, 
certified  that  the  statement  above  quoted  was  correct. 

General  Rusling  is  still  living  and  at  his  home,  in  Trenton, 
New  Jersey,  on  the  24th  day  of  June,  1914,  gave  the  follow- 
ing autograph  certificate  for  publication  in  this  volume: 


GENERAL   DANIEL   E.    SICKLES 
To  whom  Lincoln  stated  that  he  prayed  during  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg.   From 

an  original  photograph  in  the  author's  collection. 

(See  page  385) 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  387 

"I  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  an  account  prepared 
by  me,  of  a  conversation  between  President  Lincoln  and  Gen- 
eral Sickles  in  my  presence  at  Washington,  D.  C,  July  5th, 
1863,  relating  to  Gettysburg.  That  statement  was  prepared 
with  great  care  and  is  absolutely  correct  in  every  particular. 

JAMES  F.  RUSLING, 

Trenton,  N.  J.  Bvt.  Brig.  Gen'l  U.  S.  A. 

June  24,  1914." 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  himself  the  strongest  evidence  of 
faith  in  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  and  of  personal  prayerfulness. 
Stronger  proof  of  this  than  the  multiplied  testimonies  of  those 
who  knew  him  most  intimately,  stronger  even  than  his  own 
emphatic  declarations  of  his  confident  waiting  upon  God  in 
soulful  supplication  were  his  Christlike  character  and  life. 
Such  qualities  of  heart  and  soul  as  those  which  he  ever  mani- 
fested, are  the  fruitage  of  devout  and  earnest  prayer. 

Only  at  the  Mercy-seat  where  the  sweet  incense  of  interces- 
sion rises  before  the  Lord  and  fills  all  the  Holy  Place,  can  the 
fragrance  of  such  holy  living  be  secured.  Only  by  "beholding 
as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord"  are  we  "changed  into  the 
same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord."  (2  Cor.  3:18.)  And  that  transforming  vision  of  which 
the  Apostle  here  speaks,  is  the  exclusive  privilege  of  those  who 
"behold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  and  inquire  in  his  temple." 
As  the  Master  prayed  "the  fashion  of  His  countenance  was 
altered,"  and  He  was  transfigured  before  His  amazed  dis- 
ciples. The  face  of  Moses  became  luminous  with  divine  glory 
as  he  held  communion  with  Jehovah  and  though  "he  wist  not 
that  his  face  did  shine,"  all  who  saw  him  were  deeply  moved 
by  the  marvelous  transformation. 

Such  qualities  of  soul  and  spirit  as  were  possessed  and 
manifested  by  Abraham  Lincoln  are  formed  only  in  that  inner 
sanctuary  where  a  devout  and  earnest  soul  meets  with  God  in 
prayer.  And  only  by  prolonged  and  patient  waiting  upon  the 


388     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Lord  in  earnest  .supplication  can  any  one  attain,  as  Mr.  Lin- 
coln did,  to  such  high  degrees  of  Christian  qualities. 

There  is  a  profound  significance  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  belief  in 

A  FUTURE  JUDGMENT 

It  is  said  of  Daniel  Webster  that  late  in  his  life  that  great 
statesman  and  orator  was  asked  what  he  regarded  as  the  most 
solemn  and  impressive  of  all  his  thoughts.  To  this  question, 
after  a  moment's  silence,  he  slowly  and  forcefully  replied: 
"The  thought  of  my  personal  responsibility  to  God."  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  lived  and  toiled,  sacrificed  and  suffered  in  the 
constant  realization  of  that  most  solemn  and  impressive 
thought.  His  honesty  appeared  to  spring  from  religious  con- 
victions, and  it  was  his  habit  when  conversing  of  things  which 
most  intimately  concerned  himself  to  say  that  however  he 
might  be  misapprehended  by  men  who  did  not  appear  to  know 
him,  he  was  glad  to  know  that  no  thought  or  intent  of  his 
escaped  the  observation  of  that  Judge  by  whose  final  decree  he 
expected  to  stand  or  fall  in  this  world  and  the  next.  It 
seemed  as  though  this  was  his  surest  refuge  at  times  when  he 
was  most  misunderstood  or  misrepresented. 

In  his  first  inaugural  address,  delivered  March  4th,  1861, 
to  those  who  were  at  that  time  contemplating  rebellion  on  ac- 
count of  his  election,  he  said:  "You  can  have  no  conflict  with- 
out being  yourselves  the  aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  regis- 
tered in  heaven  to  destroy  the  government,  while  I  shall  have 
the  most  solemn  one  to  'preserve,  protect  and  defend  it.'  "" 

In  his  address  at  a  fair  in  the  interest  of  the  Sanitary  Com- 
mission, in  Baltimore  on  April  i8th,  1864,  referring  to  his 
enlistment  of  colored  people  in  the  army,  Mr.  Lincoln  said: 
"Upon  a  clear  conviction  of  duty  I  am  resolved  to  turn  that 
element  of  strength  to  account;  and  I  am  responsible  for  it  to 
the  American  people,  to  the  Christian  world,  to  history,  and 
in  my  final  account  to  God."28 

27  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VI.,  pp.  184-185. 

28  Ibid.,  Vol.  X.,  p.  79- 


GENERAL  JAMES   F.   RUSLING 

Whose  account  of  President  Lincoln's  interview  with  General  Sickles  is 
here  published. 

(See  page  387) 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  389 

A  few  days  later,  May  3Oth,  1864,  in  a  letter  to  Senator 
Doolittle  and  others,  from  which  I  have  quoted  elsewhere,  Mr. 
Lincoln  stated:  "When  brought  to  my  final  reckoning  may  I 
have  to  answer  for  robbing  no  man  of  his  goods,  yet  more 
tolerable  even  this,  than  for  robbing  one  of  himself  and  all  that 
was  his."29 

Speaking  of  a  pardon  which  he  had  just  issued  to  a  soldier 
under  sentence  of  death,  he  said:  "I  could  not  think  of  going 
into  eternity  with  the  blood  of  the  poor  young  man  on  my 
skirts."30 

In  their  great  contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  world, 
entitled,  "Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,"  the  private  secreta- 
ries of  the  great  President  speak  of  his  sense  of  responsibility 
to  God  and  belief  in  a  future  judgment  in  the  following  chaste 
and  forceful  language:  "From  that  morning  when,  standing 
amid  the  falling  snowflakes  on  the  railway  car  at  Springfield, 
he  asked  the  prayers  of  his  neighbors  in  those  touching  phrases 
whose  echo  rose  that  night  in  invocations  from  thousands  of 
family  altars,  to  the  memorable  hour  when  on  the  steps  of  the 
National  Capitol  he  humbled  himself  before  his  Creator  in  the 
sublime  words  of  the  second  inaugural,  there  is  not  an  expres- 
sion known  to  have  come  from  his  lips  or  pen  but  proves  that 
he  held  himself  answerable  in  every  act  of  his  career  to  a  more 
august  tribunal  than  any  on  earth.  The  fact  that  he  was  not 
a  communicant  of  any  church,  and  that  he  was  singularly 
reserved  in  regard  to  his  personal  religious  life,  gives  only  the 
greater  force  to  these  striking  proofs  of  his  profound  rever- 
ence and  faith." 

Mr.  Lincoln's  religious  faith  unquestionably  included  be- 
lief in 

FUTURE  PUNISHMENT 

With  him  character  and  destiny  were  inseparably  con- 
nected. The  reward  of  virtue  and  the  punishment  of  sin  were 
sure.  This  life  was  the  seed  time  of  which  the  life  to  come  was 

29  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  pp.  109-110. 

30  D.  D.  Thompson,  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  83. 


390     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  harvest.  He  speaks  of  the  "finally  impenitent"  clearly  in- 
dicating his  belief  in  the  duration  of  moral  conditions  beyond 
the  confines  of  this  present  world.  Early  in  his  public  life, 
when  a  member  of  the  Illinois  legislature,  during  a  tremendous 
struggle  to  secure  the  removal  of  the  capital  of  the  state  from 
Salem  to  Springfield,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  greatly  disturbed  by 
efforts  to  corole  with  that  movement,  which  he  approved, 
other  measures  to  which  he  was  unchangeably  opposed.  While 
that  struggle  was  in  progress  a  caucus  was  held  for  the  purpose 
of  dissuading  Mr.  Lincoln  from  his  determination  to  oppose 
the  capital  removal  measure  unless  it  was  disassociated  from 
the  schemes  to  which  he  objected.  Mr.  Lincoln  remained  un- 
yielding and  past  the  hour  of  midnight  he  arose  in  the  caucus 
and  made  what  has  been  characterized  as  a  speech  of  great 
eloquence  and  power  in  opposition  to  the  movement  as  it  then 
stood,  at  the  close  of  which  he  said:  "You  may  burn  my  body 
to  ashes,  and  scatter  them  to  the  winds  of  heaven;  you  may 
drag  my  soul  down  to  the  regions  of  darkness  and  despair  to 
be  tormented  forever ;  but  you  will  never  get  me  to  support  a 
measure  which  I  believe  to  be  wrong,  although  by  doing  so  I 
may  accomplish  that  which  I  believe  to  be  right."31 

In  a  letter  to  George  Robertson  dated  August  I5th,  1855, 
Mr.  Lincoln  expresses  great  depression  of  spirits,  in  view  of 
what  he  regarded  as  the  tendency  in  the  direction  of  the  per- 
petuation and  nationalization  of  the  institution  of  slavery.  In 
this  letter  he  says:  "So  far  as  peaceable  voluntary  Emancipa- 
tion is  concerned,  the  condition  of  the  Negro  slave  in  America, 
scarcely  less  terrible  to  the  contemplation  of  a  free  man,  is 
now  as  fixed  and  hopeless  of  change  for  the  better,  as  that  of 
the  lost  souls  of  the  finally  impenitent."32 

In  granting  a  respite  for  Nathaniel  Gordon,  to  whom  he 
could  not  see  his  way  clear  to  give  a  pardon,  on  February  4th, 
1862,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "In  granting  this  respite  it  becomes 
my  painful  duty  to  admonish  the  prisoner  that,  relinquishing 

31  Ida  M.  Tarbell,  Life  of  Lincoln,  Vol.  I.,  p.  139. 

32  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  II.,  p.  280. 


A  PRAYIKG  PRESIDES!. 

GEN.   JAMES  F.   PUSLING,   of  Trenton,   N.J.,  relates  a  signi- 
fioant  conversation  which  he  heard  on  Sunday,    July  5,   1863,   In  the 
room  in  Washington  where  Gen.  Sickles  lay  wounded,    just  after  the 
great  victory  at  Gettysburg.       In  reply  to  a  question  from  Gen. 
Sickles  whether  or  not  the  President  was  anxious  about  the  battle 
at  Gettysburg,  Lincoln  gravely  said,   "No,   I  was  not;  some  of  my 
cabinet  and  many  others  in  Washington  were,  but  I  had  no  fears." 
Gen.  Sickles  inquired  how  this  was,   and  seemed  curious  about  it* 
Mr.  lincoln  hesitated,  but  finally  replied:       "Well,   I  will  tell  you 
how  it  was.       In  the  pinch  of  your  campaign  up  there,  when  every- 
body seemed  panic-stricken,  and  nobody  could  tell  what  was  going 
to  happen,  oppressed  by  the  gravity  of  our  affairs,   I  went  to  my 
room  one  day,   and  locked  the  door,   and  got  down  on  my  knees  be- 
fore Almighty  God,   and  prayed  to  Him  mightily  for  victory  at 
Gettysburg.       I  told  Him  that  this  was  His  war,  and  our  cause  His 
cause,   but  we  couldn't  stand  another  Fredericksburg  or  Chancellore- 
ville.       And  I  then  and  there  made  a  solemn  vow  to  Almighty  God, 
that  if  He  would  stand  by  our  boys  at  Gettysburg,   I  would  stand 
by  Him.       And  He  did  stand  by  you  boys,   and  I  will  stand  by  Him. 
And  after  that  (I  don't  know  how  it  was,   and  I  can't  explain  it), 
Boon  a  sweet  comfort  crept  into  my  soul  that  God  Almighty  had 
taken  the  whole  business  into  His  own  hands  and  that   things  would 
go  all  right  at  Gettysburg.       And  that  is  why  I  had  no  fears  about 
you."       Asked  concerning  Vieksburg,  the  news  of  which  victory  had 
not  yet  reached  him,  he  said,   "I  have  been  praying  for  7icksburg 
also,  and  believe  our  Heavenly  Father  is  going  to  give  us  victory 
there,   too."       Of  course,  he  did  not  know  that  Vicksburg  had  al- 
ready surrendered  the  day  before.       Gen.  Rusling  says  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  spoke  "solemnly  and  pathetically,  as  if  from  the  depth 
of  his  heart,"  and  that  his  manner  was  deeply  touching. 
GENERAL  RUSLING'S  CERTIFICATE 


I  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  an  account  prepared 
by  me  of  a  conversation  between  President  Lincoln  and  Gen.  Sickles 
in  my  presence  at  Washington,  B.C.,    July  5,   1863,  relating  to 
Gettysburg.       That   statement  was  prepared  with  great  care  and  is 
absolutely  correct  in  every  particular. 


Trenton,  N.J. 
June  24,   1914. 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  391 

all  expectation  of  pardon  by  human  authority,  he  refer  himself 
alone  to  the  mercy  of  the  common  C.od  and  Father  of  all 
men."33 

Rev.  Theodore  Cuyler,  D.D.,  says:  "On  the  day  after  he 
(Lincoln)  heard  of  the  awful  slaughter  at  Fredericksburg,  he 
remarked  at  the  War  Office,  'If  any  of  the  lost  in  hell  suffered 
worse  than  I  did  last  night  I  pity  them.'  "34 

Probably  the  most  emphatic  declaration  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
concerning  the  future  punishment  is  to  be  found  in  his  refer- 
ence to  the  efforts  which  were  being  made  to  induce  him  to 
retract  and  nullify  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  Respect- 
ing those  efforts  he  says :  "There  have  been  men  base  enough  to 
propose  to  me  to  return  to  slavery  the  black  warriors  of  Port 
Hudson  and  Olustee,  and  thus  win  the  respect  of  the  masters 
they  fought.  Should  I  do  so,  I  should  deserve  to  be  damned  in 
time  and  eternity.  Come  what  will,  I  will  keep  my  faith  with 
friend  and  foe."85 

CONSOLATION  IN  DEATH 

As  early  as  February  3rd,  1842,  in  a  letter  of  touching 
tenderness,  addressed  to  his  lifelong  friend,  Joshua  F.  Speed, 
in  speaking  of  the  serious  and  possibly  fatal  illness  of  his 
friend's  wife,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "The  death  scenes  of  those  we 
love  are  surely  painful  enough;  but  these  we  are  prepared  for 
and  expect  to  see ;  they  happen  to  all,  and  all  know  they  must 
happen.  Painful  as  they  are,  they  are  not  an  unlocked  for 
sorrow.  Should  f  ^  ?,  as  you  fear,  be  destined  to  an  early  grave, 
it  is  indeed  a  gr  t  consolation  to  know  that  she  is  so  well 
prepared  to  meet  :.  Her  religion  which  you  once  disliked  so 
much,  I  will  venture  you  now  prize  most  highly."36 

In  addition  to  the  assurance  afforded  by  the  foregoing 
letter  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  belief  in  the  consolations  of  grace  at 

33  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VII.,  p.  96. 

34  Recollections  of  a  Long  Life,  p.  145. 

85  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  191. 
M  Ibid.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  186. 


392    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

death,  we  are  also  assured  of  his  firm  and  unquestioning  faith 
in 

A  FUTURE  LIFE 

Mrs.  Pomeroy,  from  whom  I  have  already  quoted,  says 
concerning  this:  "The  first  four  weeks  that  I  was  looking  after 
little  Tad  I  was  feeling  exceedingly  anxious  about  my  boys 
(sick  soldiers)  and  the  President  proposed  taking  me  every 
few  days  to  the  hospital  that  I  might  report  to  him  how  they 
felt  when  near  death,  and  what  they  thought  of  the  future."" 

Rev.  F.  C.  Iglehart,  D.D.,  tells  us  that  sitting  by  the  bed- 
side of  a  dying  woman  for  whom  he  had  just  written  a  will, 
Mr.  Lincoln  listened  to  her  joyful  declaration  that  she  was 
fully  prepared  for  death  and  for  the  future  life,  and  very 
feelingly  said:  "Your  faith  in  Christ  is  wise  and  strong.  Your 
hope  of  a  future  life  is  blessed.  You  are  to  be  congratulated 
on  passing  through  this  life  so  usefully  and  into  the  future 
so  happily."38 

In  1856,  at  the  residence  of  the  Hon.  Norman  B.  Judd,  in 
Chicago,  Mr.  Lincoln  with  rare  beauty  and  fitness  expressed 
his  belief  in  immortality  and  the  future  life,  as  follows: 

"It  was  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  and  during  the  trial  in 
the  Federal  Court  of  the  great  Rock  Island  Bridge  case,  in- 
volving the  right  of  the  railway  company  to  bridge  the  Missis- 
sippi. Lincoln  was  spending  the  evening  at  the  home  of  Mrs. 
Judd,  situated  on  Michigan  Avenue,  and  looking  directly  out 
upon  Lake  Michigan.  As  the  party  sat  on  the  piazza,  the  full 
moon  rose  out  of  the  lake,  casting  its  ligh'  ~n  many  a  sail  of 
the  numerous  ships  going  in  and  out  of  the  1  -bor.  The  waves 
were  beating  a  low  anthem  against  the  b,  akwater  and  the 
shore.  The  scene,  beautiful  beyond  description,  was  peculiarly 
novel  and  impressive  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  whose  home  was  on  the 
prairies  far  inland.  He  recited,  with  great  expression,  Bu- 
chanan Read's  poem,  descriptive  of  the  Bay  of  Naples,  and 
then  went  on  to  speak  of  the  wonders  of  astronomy  and  of  the 

37  Lincoln  Scrap-book,  p.  54.  88  The  Speaking  Oak. 


LINCOLN'S  FAITH  IN  PRAYER  393 

sublime  power  of  the  great  Creator,  who  had  brought  the 
numberless  worlds  all  around  us  into  existence,  and  who  had 
created  man  with  an  intellect  able  to  discover  the  wonders  of 
the  universe.  'Surely  God  would  not  have  created  such  a  be- 
ing as  man,  with  an  ability  to  grasp  the  infinite,  to  exist  only 
for  a  day !  No/  said  he,  'man  was  made  for  immortality."39 
It  is  comforting  to  know  that  in  the  midst  of  his  weariness, 
heartache  and  anguish  of  soul  Mr.  Lincoln  fully  believed  in 
and  looked  confidently  forward  to 

ETERNAL  FELICITY  IN  HEAVEN 

On  the  1 2th  of  January,  1851,  in  a  letter  to  his  stepbrother, 
John  D.  Johnston,  he  said:  "I  sincerely  hope  father  may  re- 
cover his  health,  but  at  all  events,  tell  him  to  remember  to  call 
upon  and  confide  in  our  great  and  good  and  merciful  Maker, 
who  will  not  turn  from  him  in  any  extremity.  He  notes  the 
fall  of  the  sparrow,  and  numbers  the  hairs  of  our  heads,  and 
He  will  not  forget  the  dying  man  who  puts  his  trust  in  Him. 
Say  to  him  that  if  we  could  meet  now  it  is  doubtful  whether  it 
would  not  be  more  painful  than  pleasant,  but  that  if  it  be  his 
lot  to  go  now,  he  will  soon  have  a  joyous  meeting  with  many 
loved  ones  gone  before,  and  where  the  rest  of  us,  through  the 
help  of  God,  hope  ere  long  to  join  them."40 

Mr.  Lincoln's  belief  in  the  reuniting  of  earthly  ties  and 
recognition  in  heaven  was  very  beautifully  declared  by  an  ex- 
pressive gesture  a  few  weeks  previous  to  his  departure  from 
Springfield  to  assume  the  duties  of  President.  With  that 
filial  devotion  for  which  he  was  so  distinguished,  he  took  a 
cross-country  ride  by  private  conveyance  to  a  distant  place  for 
a  last  interview  with  his  beloved  stepmother,  who  was  then  far 
advanced  in  years  and  very  feeble. 

At  the  close  of  their  brief  visit  Mr.  Lincoln  arose  and  af- 
fectionately embraced  the  white-haired  matron,  pressing  her 

39 1.  N.  Arnold,  The  Layman's  Faith,  p.  29. 

40  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  II.,  p.  148. 


394    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

close  to  his  breast  and  tenderly  caressing  her  withered  cheek. 
"Abram,"  she  said  with  trembling  voice,  "I  shall  never  see  you 
again." 

Pressing  her  still  more  closely  to  his  breast  and  raising  his 
right  hand  with  his  finger  pointing  upward  he  said:  "Mother," 
and  not  another  word  was  uttered.  That  silent  gesture  was 
more  eloquent  than  words  and  was  prophetic  of  their  reunion 
in  a  better  world. 

Elizabeth  Keckley  says:  "When  Willie  died,  as  he  lay  on 
the  bed,  Mr.  Lincoln  came  to  the  bed,  lifted  the  cover  from  the 
face  of  his  child,  gazed  at  it  long  and  earnestly  murmuring: 
'My  poor  boy,  he  was  too  good  for  this  earth.  God  has  called 
him  home.  I  know  that  he  is  much  better  off  in  heaven,  but 
then  we  loved  him  so.  It  is  hard,  hard  to  have  him  die.'  "41 

41  Behind  the  Scenes,  p.  103. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE 

THE  foregoing  array  of  evidence  proves  beyond  all  ques- 
tion that  Abraham   Lincoln  firmly  believed  in  the 
Bible  as  the  divinely  inspired  Word  of  God,  and  in 
the  commonly  accepted  doctrines  of  the  Christian  Church. 
His  own  statements  in  official  papers,  public  utterances,  private 
correspondence,  and  personal  interviews,  respecting  these  mat- 
ters are  so  clear  and  unequivocal,  so  pronounced  and  earnest, 
as  to  answer  fully  and  forever  all  inquiries  respecting  his 
religious  belief. 

Equally  abundant  and  convincing  is  the  evidence  of  his 
personal  religious  experiences  and  life.  That  he  accepted 
Jesus  Christ  as  his  personal  Saviour  and  became  the  recipient 
of  the  regenerating  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  as  certain  as 
any  historical  fact.  Evidence  of  this  is  cumulative  and  com- 
plete and  includes  all  kinds  of  authentic,  valid  testimony. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN'S  CONVERSION 

Written  statements  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  own  handwriting  con- 
stitute evidence  touching  this  matter  which  no  one  can  reason- 
ably deny  or  doubt.  Next  in  value  and  strength  to  such  testi- 
mony are  the  authentic  statements  of  trustworthy  persons  who 
were  closely  associated  with  Mr.  Lincoln  and  were  highly  es- 
teemed and  trusted  by  him.  Of  such  persons  there  was  not 
one  more  trustworthy  or  more  fully  trusted  than  Rev.  James 
F.  Jaquess,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  in  Springfield,  Illinois,  and  later  Colonel  of  the  73rd 
Regiment  Volunteer  Infantry,  during  all  the  history  of  that 
famous  regiment. 

395 


396     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

President  Lincoln's  high  estimate  of  the  character  and 
worth  of  Colonel  Jaquess  was  forcefully  expressed  at  the  time 
of  his  assignment  by  the  President  to  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant and  peculiarly  difficult  and  successful  missions  of  the 
war,  the  Jaquess-Gilmore  Embassy  of  Peace,  of  which  an  ex- 
tended account  appears  elsewhere  in  this  work  and  should  be 
read  in  connection  with  the  subjoined  statement  by  Colonel 
Jaquess  respecting  an  interview  between  Mr.  Lincoln  and 
himself  in  Springfield,  Illinois. 

COLONEL  JAQUESS'  STATEMENT 

was  made  at  a  reunion  of  the  73rd  Regiment  of  the  Illi- 
nois Infantry,  held  September  28-29,  l&97>  m  Springfield, 
and  is  as  follows: 

"The  mention  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  name  recalls  to  my  mind 
an  occurrence  that  perhaps  I  ought  to  mention.  Very  soon 
after  my  second  year's  work  as  a  minister  in  the  Illinois  Con- 
ference I  was  sent  to  Springfield. 

"One  beautiful  Sunday  morning  in  May,  I  was  standing 
in  the  front  door  of  the  parsonage  when  a  little  boy  came 
up  to  me  and  said:  'Mr.  Lincoln  sent  me  around  to  see  if  you 
was  going  to  preach  today.'  Now,  I  had  met  Mr.  Lincoln, 
but  I  never  thought  any  more  of  'Abe'  Lincoln  than  I  did 
of  any  one  else.  I  said  to  the  boy:  'You  go  back  and  tell 
Mr.  Lincoln  that  if  he  will  come  to  church  he  will  see  whether 
I  am  going  to  preach  or  not.'  The  little  fellow  stood  work- 
ing his  fingers  and  finally  said:  'Mr.  Lincoln  told  me  he 
would  give  me  a  quarter  if  I  would  find  out  whether  you 
are  going  to  preach.'  I  did  not  want  to  rob  the  little  fellow 
of  his  income,  so  I  told  him  to  tell  Mr.  Lincoln  that  I  was 
going  to  try  to  preach. 

"The  church  was  filled  that  morning.  It  was  a  good-sized 
church,  but  on  that  day  all  the  seats  were  filled.  I  had  chosen 
for  my  text  the  words,  'Ye  must  be  born  again,'  and  during 
the  course  of  my  sermon  I  laid  particular  stress  on  the  word 
'must.'  Mr.  Lincoln  came  into  the  church  after  the  services 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        397 

had  commenced,  and  there  being  no  vacant  seats,  chairs  were 
put  in  the  altar  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  and 
Governor  French  and  wife  sat  in  the  altar  during  the  entire 
services,  Mr.  Lincoln  on  my  left  and  Governor  French  on  my 
right,  and  I  noticed  that  Mr.  Lincoln  appeared  to  be  deeply 
interested  in  the  sermon.  A  few  days  after  that  Sunday 
Mr.  Lincoln  called  on  me  and  informed  me  that  he  had  been 
greatly  impressed  with  my  remarks  on  Sunday  and  that  he 
had  come  to  talk  with  me  further  on  the  matter.  I  invited 
him  in,  and  my  wife  and  I  talked  and  prayed  with  him  for 
hours.  Now,  I  have  seen  many  persons  converted ;  I  have  seen 
hundreds  brought  to  Christ,  and  if  ever  a  person  was  con- 
verted, Abraham  Lincoln  was  converted  that  night  in  my 
house."1 

There  is  every  reason  for  giving  this  remarkable  story 
unquestioning  credence.  That  it  was  voluntarily  related  by 
Colonel  Jaquess  at  the  time  and  upon  the  occasion  designated 
is  beyond  question.  It  is  recorded  here  just  as  given  by  him 
in  the  printed  proceedings  of  a  reunion  of  Colonel  Jaquess' 
regiment.  It  is  also  certain  that  the  Colonel  was  absolutely 
incapable  of  fabricating  such  a  story.  Furthermore,  the  inci- 
dent explains  the  apparently  mysterious  eagerness  with  which 
President  Lincoln  welcomed,  considered  and  favored  the  seem- 
ingly preposterous  mission  proposed  by  Colonel  Jaquess  in 
1863.  Such  an  incident  as  is  mentioned  in  this  Jaquess  state- 
ment could  not  have  failed  to  cause  Mr.  Lincoln  to  hold  the 
minister  with  whom  he  had  such  an  interview  in  high  esteem 
and  to  cherish  for  him  the  confidence  and  love  which  he  man- 
ifested toward  him.  It  is  well  known  that  Mr.  Lincoln  ap- 
proved of,  and  enjoyed  a  sermon  aflame  with  fervid  enthu- 
siasm. He  was  greatly  interested  in  and  deeply  moved  by 
the  preaching  of  Rev.  Peter  Aked  whose  burning  eloquence 
was  not  unlike  that  of  Dr.  Jaquess.  Hence,  the  diligence  with 

1  Minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Eleventh  Annual  Reunion  Survivors 
73rd  Regiment,  Illinois  Infantry  Volunteers,  p.  30.  The  Christian  Advo- 
cate, November  nth,  1909, 


398    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  sought  to  be  assured  that  Dr.  Jaquess 


would  preach  on  that  Sabbath  morning  in  May,   1849, 
his  profound  interest  in  the  sermon  to  which  he  listened. 

The  prolonged  silence  of  those  who  knew  of  this  event 
in  Mr.  Lincoln's  life  is  quite  understandable  and  does  not 
justify  any  doubt  of  the  story  itself.  It  was  like  Mr.  Lincoln 
to  make  no  mention  of  this  event  to  any  perse  n;  and  it  was 
just  like  Dr.  Jaquess  to  regard  the  affair  as  confidential,  and 
to  leave  the  question  of  publicity  at  the  time  wholly  with  Mr. 
Lincoln.  Some  preachers  would  have  proclaimed  the  event 
from  the  housetop,  but  Mr.  Lincoln  never  would  have  sought 
such  an  interview  with  a  minister  of  that  caliber  and  character. 

It  was  with  reference  to  this  same  subject  of  the  new 
birth  that  Nicodemus  had  his  memorable  private  interview  "at 
night"  with  the  Master,  and  we  have  no  information  that 
either  Jesus  or  Nicodemus  ever  gave  the  affair  any  publicity, 
until  after  the  lapse  of  half  a  century  the  story  was  told  in 
the  Gospel  by  John. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  subsequent  period  of  doubt  concerning  re- 
ligious matters  was  strictly  normal,  and  does  not  to  any  degree 
discredit  the  account  of  the  declaration  of  his  acceptance  of 
Christ  during  the  interview  in  the  Jaquess'  home.  As  else- 
where stated,  people  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  temperament  and  mental 
make-up  usually  come  into  a  large  and  satisfying  faith  by 
passing  through  a  period  of  doubt.  Therefore,  instead  of  dis- 
crediting the  Jaquess'  story,  Mr.  Lincoln's  later  season  of 
doubt  confirms  the  account  of  that  event  in  his  life  and  bears 
witness  to  his  surrender  to  Christ,  as  stated  by  Colonel  Jaquess, 
and  to  the  sincerity  of  subsequent  efforts  to  keep  the  cove- 
nant he  made  at  the  time  of  that  surrender.  That  surrender 
of  his  will  and  heart  naturally  called  for  the  approval  of 
his  reason  and  led  to  investigation  of  Christian  evidences 
which  followed,  and  which  was  so  honest  and  thorough  as 
to  seem  to  be  unsettling;  but  which,  in  fact,  was  the  process 
by  which  a  strongly  intellectual  nature  reached  settled  and 
satisfactory  convictions. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE       399 

The  claim  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  so  deeply  moved  by  Dr. 
Jaquess'  sermon  on  the  "New  Birth"  as  to  seek  from  him  fur- 
ther light  on  the  subject,  and  that  at  the  interview  in  the 
parsonage  he  declared  his  acceptance  of  Christ  as  his  personal 
Saviour  is  not  at  variance  with  any  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  subse- 
quent declarations.  In  considering  those  declarations  it  should 
be  remembered  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  of  a  secretive  nature 
and  respecting  religious  matters  he  was  peculiarly 

RESERVED  AND  RETICENT. 

Mr.  Lincoln  seemed  to  regard  his  personal  religious  experi- 
ence as  a  matter  of  sacred  confidence  between  himself  and  the 
Saviour.  He  was  familiar  with  the  testimony  given  by  pro- 
fessing Christians  at  "Experience  meetings,"  and  always  lis- 
tened to  them  with  interest,  but  with  rare  exceptions  he  re- 
frained from  speaking  of  his  own  religious  experience.  While 
delighting  to  bear  witness  to  his  faith  in  God  and  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  to  his  trust  in  Divine  Providence,  he  was 
exceptionally  reserved  and  reluctant  in  regard  to  the  work  of 
grace  in  his  own  heart.  To  only  a  favored  few,  and  upon 
rare  occasions,  did  he  speak  of  his  personal  relation  to  Christ. 

So  acute  and  accurate  was  he  in  perception,  and  so  sensi- 
tive to  spiritual  atmosphere  that  it  required  a  delicate  and 
peculiarly  responsive  nature  to  cause  him  to  unbosom  himself 
by  speaking  of  the  things  of  the  inner  life.  Referring  to  this 
trait  in  his  character  Colonel  A.  K.  McClure  remarks:  "I  saw 
Mr.  Lincoln  many  times  during  his  Presidential  term,  and, 
like  all  of  the  many  others  who  had  intimate  relations  with 
him,  I  enjoyed  his  confidence  only  within  the  limitations  of  the 
necessities  of  the  occasion."2 

To  the  same  effect  Colonel  McClure  says  still  further: 
"Mr.  Lincoln  gave  his  confidence  to  no  living  man  without 
reservation.  He  trusted  many,  but  he  trusted  only  within 
the  carefully-studied  limitations  of  their  usefulness,  and  when 

2  Lincoln  and  Men  of  War  Times,  p.  4. 


400    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

he  trusted  he  confided,  as  a  rule,  only  to  the  extent  necessary 
to  make  that  trust  available."  3 

This  from  F.  B.  Carpenter,  the  artist:  "Doubtless  he  felt 
as  deeply  upon  the  great  questions  of  the  soul  and  eternity 
as  any  other  thoughtful  man;  but  the  very  tenderness  and 
humility  of  his  nature  would  not  permit  the  exposure  of  his 
inmost  convictions,  except  upon  the  rarest  occasions,  and  to 
his  most  intimate  friends."4 

And  this  from  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland:  "It  was  rare  that  he 
exhibited  what  was  religious  in  him ;  and  he  never  did  this  at 
all,  except  when  he  found  just  the  nature  and  character  that 
were  sympathetic  with  that  aspect  and  element  of  his  char- 
acter. A  great  deal  of  his  best,  deepest,  largest  life  he  kept 
almost  constantly  from  view,  because  he  would  not  expose  it 
to  the  eyes  and  apprehension  of  the  careless  multitude."5 

In  connection  with  the  account  of  the  "Bateman  Inter- 
view" Dr.  Holland  has  this  to  say:  "It  was  one  of  the  pecu- 
liarities of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  hide  these  religious  experiences 
from  the  eyes  of  the  world.  In  the  same  State  House  where 
this  conversation  occurred,  there  were  men  who  imagined — 
who  really  believed,  who  freely  said — that  Mr.  Lincoln  had 
probably  revealed  himself  with  less  restraint  to  them  than 
to  others,  men  who  thought  they  knew  him  as  they  knew  their 
bosom  companions,  who  had  never  in  their  whole  lives  heard 
from  his  lips  one  word  of  all  these  religious  convictions 
and  experiences.  They  did  not  regard  him  as  a  religious 
man.  They  had  never  seen  anything  but  the  active  lawyer, 
the  keen  politician,  the  jovial,  fun-loving  companion,  in  Mr. 
Lincoln.  All  this  department  of  his  life  he  had  kept  carefully 
hidden  from  them.  Why  he  should  say  that  he  was  obliged 
to  appear  differently  to  others  does  not  appear;  but  the  fact 
is  a  matter  of  history  that  he  never  exposed  his  own  religious 
life  to  those  who  had  no  sympathy  with  it,  It  is  doubtful 

3  Lincoln  and  Men  of  War  Times,  p.  65. 

*  Six  Months  in  the  White  House,  pp.  185-186. 

5  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  241. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        401 

whether  the  clergymen  of  Springfield  knew  anything  of  these 
experiences.  Very  few  of  them  were  in  political  sympathy  with 
him ;  and  it  is  evident  that  he  could  open  his  heart  to  no  one 
except  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances.  The  fountain 
from  which  gushed  up  so  grand  and  good  a  life  was  kept 
carefully  covered  from  the  eyes  of  the  world.  Its  possessor 
looked  into  it  often,  but  the  careless  or  curious  crowd  were 
never  favored  with  the  vision.  There  was  much  in  his  con- 
duct that  was  simply  a  cover  to  these  thoughts — an  attempt 
to  conceal  them."6 

There  were,  however,  some,  though  only  a  very  limited 
number,  to  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  spoke  quite  freely  respecting 
his  religious  experiences.  Late  in  October,  1860,  in  one  of 
his  doubting  moods,  a  few  days  prior  to  his  first  election  to 
the  Presidency,  Mr.  Lincoln  in  conversation  with  Dr.  Newton 
Bateman  said:  "I  am  not  a  Christian.  God  knows  I  would 
be  one,  but  I  have  carefully  read  the  Bible,  and  I  do  not  so 
understand  this  Book.  I  know  there  is  a  God,  and  that  He 
hates  injustice  and  slavery.  I  see  the  storm  coming,  and  I 
know  that  His  hand  is  in  it.  If  he  has  a  place  and  work  for 
me — and  I  think  He  has — I  believe  I  am  ready."  In  the  same 
conversation  he  said:  "I  think  more  on  these  subjects  than 
upon  all  others,  and  I  have  done  so  for  years."  7 

This  absence  of  sunny  certainty  must  not  be  taken  as  a 
repudiation  of  his  Christian  standing,  but  as  something  that 
belongs  to  an  introspective  and  self -exacting  nature. 

During  his  administration  as  President,  in  a  conversation 
with  his  close  personal  friend  Noah  Brooks,  Mr.  Lincoln  said : 
"I  am  very  sure  that  if  I  do  not  go  away  from  here  a  wiser 
man,  I  shall  go  away  a  better  man,  for  having  learned  here 
what  a  very  poor  sort  of  a  man  I  am."  8 

"Referring  to  what  he  called  a  change  of  heart,  he  said 
he  did  not  remember  any  precise  time  when  he  passed  through 

6  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  pp.  239-240. 

7  Ibid.,  pp.  237-238. 

6  Harper's  Magazine,  1865,  p.  226. 


402     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

any  special  change  of  purpose,  or  of  heart ;  but  he  would  say, 
that  his  own  election  to  office,  and  the  crisis  immediately  fol- 
lowing, influentially  determined  him  in  what  he  called  a  'pro- 
cess of  crystallization/  then  going  on  in  his  mind."9 

Respecting  these  statements,  Mr.  Brooks  says:  "Reticent 
as  he  was,  and  shy  of  discoursing  much  of  his  own  mental 
exercises,  these  few  utterances  now  have  a  value  with  those 
who  knew  him,  which  his  dying  words  would  scarcely  have 
possessed."9 

At  one  time  in  conversation  with  a  very  prominent  Chris- 
tian woman,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "Mrs. ,  I  have  formed 

a  very  high  opinion  of  your  Christian  character,  and  now,  as 
we  are  alone,  I  have  a  mind  to  ask  you  to  give  me,  in  brief, 
your  idea  of  what  constitutes  a  true  religious  experience." 

After  listening  attentively  to  the  answer  to  his  question, 
Mr.  Lincoln  very  earnestly  said:  "If  what  you  have  told  me 
is  really  a  correct  view  of  this  great  subject, -I  think  I  can 
say  with  sincerity  that  I  hope  I  am  a  Christian.  I  had  lived 
until  my  boy  Willie  died  without  realizing  fully  these  things. 
That  blow  overwhelmed  me.  It  showed  .me  my  weakness  as 
I  had  never  felt  it  before,  and  if  I  can  take  what  you  have 
stated  as  a  test,  I  think  I  can  safely  say  that  I  know  some- 
thing of  that  change  of  which  you  speak;  and  I  will  further 
add,  that  it  has  been  my  intention  for  some  time,  at  a  suitable 
opportunity,  to  make  a  public  religious  profession."10 

In  publishing  Mr.  Carpenter's  account  of  this  incident, 
Judge  Whitney  says:  "This  statement  was  made  to  an  eminent 
Christian  lady,  and  may  be  relied  on  as  authentic,  and  it  shows 
conclusively  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  Christian."11 

General  Horatio  King  tells  this  corroborative  incident: 
"Shortly  before  his  death  an  Illinois  clergyman  asked  Lincoln: 
'Do  you  love  Jesus?'  Mr.  Lincoln  solemnly  replied:  'When 
I  left  Springfield  I  asked  the  people  to  pray  for  me.  I 

9  Harper's  Magazine,  p.  226. 

10  Six  Months  in  the  White  House,  p.  187. 
w  Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln,  p.  281. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        403 

was  not  a  Christian.  When  I  buried  my  son,  the  severest 
trial  of  my  life,  I  was  not  a  Christian.  But  when  I  went  to 
Gettysburg  and  saw  the  graves  of  thousands  of  our  soldiers, 
I  then  and  there  consecrated  myself  to  Christ.  Yes  I  do  love 
Jesus.'  "12 

Mr.  O.  H.  Olroyd  reports  Mr.  Lincoln  to  have  said:  "I 
have  often  wished  that  I  was  a  more  devout  man  than  I  am."18 

Dr.  P.  D.  Gurley,  Mr.  Lincoln's  pastor,  said,  after  the 
President's  death,  in  a  conversation  with  Dr.  J.  A.  Reed:  "I 
had  frequent  and  intimate  conversations  with  him  (Lincoln) 
on  the  subject  of  the  Bible  and  the  Christian  religion  when 
he  could  have  no  motive  to  deceive  me,  and  I  considered  him 
sound  not  only  in  the  truth  of  the  Christian  Religion  but  in 
all  its  fundamental  doctrines  and  teachings.  And  more  than 
that:  In  the  latter  days  of  his  chastened  and  weary  life,  after 
the  death  of  his  son  Willie  and  his  visit  to  the  battlefield  of 
Gettysburg,  he  said  with  tears  in  his  eyes  that  he  had  lost 
confidence  in  everything  but  God,  and  that  he  now  believed 
his  heart  was  changed  and  that  he  loved  the  Saviour  and  if 
he  was  not  deceived  in  himself  it  was  his  intention  soon  to 
make  a  profession  of  religion."14 

The  foregoing  statements  by  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  and  by 
others,  tell  the  story  of  the  progressive  experience  of  a  thor- 
oughly sincere  and  conscientious  Christian  man.  This  expe- 
rience was  in  harmony  with  the  words  of  the  Prophet,  "Let  us 
know,  let  us  follow  on  to  know  the  Lord."  15  They  came  in  the 
natural  order  and  sequence  described  by  Jesus  in  the  figure, 
"First  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full  corn  in  the  ear."18 
They  followed  the  law  of  increase  indicated  in  the  words, 
"The  path  of  the  righteous  is  as  a  shining  light  that  shineth 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day."17 

Mr.  Lincoln's  life  during  the  period  covered  by  these  state- 
ments was  a  progressive  experience  marked  all  the  way  by 
battles  and  victories,  by  struggles  and  achievements,  as  is  the 

12  Christian  Work  and  Evangelist. 

13  Lincoln  Album,  p.  254.       14  Scribner's  Magazine,  July,  1873,  p.  339. 
15Hos.  6:3.  "Mark  4: 28.  "Prov.  4:18. 


404    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

case  with  all  true  Christians.  It  was  a  perfectly  normal 
Christian  experience,  orderly  in  sequence  and  growth.  It  was 
like  the  ever-enlarging  experience  of  Paul  from  his  first  vision 
of  Jesus  near  Damascus,  when  he  said,  "Who  art  thou,  Lord?" 
to  the  time  when  from  his  prison  at  Rome,  he  sent  the  fare- 
well testimony:  "I  am  already  being  offered,  and  the  time 
of  my  departure  is  come.  I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I 
have  finished  the  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith:  henceforth 
there  is  laid  up  for  me  the  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the 
Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  to  me  at  that  day."18 

The  life  of  Lincoln,  like  that  of  Paul,  was  one  of  toil 
and  hardship,  of  sacrifice  and  suffering;  but  through  it  all 
there  was  an  ever-increasing  disclosure  of  divine  love  and 
compassion,  and  an  ever-deepening  experience  of  divine  grace. 
Perhaps  in  no  respect  was  there  a  closer  similarity  in  these 
two  lives  than  in  the  constant  increase  of  their  realization 
of  the  Lord's  presence  and  power,  their  own  consecration  to 
His  service,  and  their  steady  and  manifest  transformation  into 
His  character  and  likeness.  Not  less  laborious  than  the  life 
of  Paul  was  the  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  not  more 
Christlike  was  Paul's  forgiveness  of  his  enemies  than  was 
Abraham  Lincoln's  spirit  toward  those  who,  without  just 
cause,  heaped  cruel  maledictions  upon  his  devoted  head. 

And  how  like  the  experiences  of  Mary  and  Martha  were 
the  results  of  Lincoln's  heartbreaking  grief  at  the  death  of 
his  beautiful  boy.  The  sisters  of  Lazarus  knew  Jesus  inti- 
mately before  the  death  of  their  brother,  but  they  did  not 
know  and  they  never  could  have  known  His  unspeakable  pre- 
ciousness  without  the  overwhelming  sorrow  which  came  upon 
them  and  brought  Him  to  their  relief. 

Mr.  Lincoln  may  have  thought  he  experienced  a  change 
of  heart  when  he  realized  the  consolations  of  divine  grace 
at  that  time  of  his  sore  bereavement;  and  he  may  have  been 
even  more  fully  convinced  of  his  acceptance  with  God,  when 
on  the  battlefield  of  Gettysburg  he  renewed  his  consecration 

"2  Tim.  4:6-8. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE       405 

to  God ;  but  those  who  have  had  large  experience  in  Christian 
life  fully  understand  that  such  events  usually  are  attended  by 
a  deepening  of  the  soul's  conscious  need,  and  a  quickening  of 
faith  that  apprehends  the  Lord's  presence  and  the  gracious 
ministrations  of  His  grace. 

The  Christian's  life  is  like  climbing  a  mountain,  which 
always  requires  vigorous  and  persevering  effort,  and  in  which 
as  we  ascend,  the  area  of  our  vision  is  constantly  enlarged; 
new  and  beautiful  scenes  come  into  view;  the  atmosphere 
becomes  clearer  and  the  ability  to  see  is  quickened  and  made 
more  acute  by  our  exertions. 

Very  much  like  this  did  Mr.  Lincoln's  religious  life  rise 
from  the  comparatively  low  level  of  the  Bateman  Interview 
in  1860  to  the  good  confession  which  he  witnessed  to  Dr. 
Gurley  four  years  later.  That  was  a  still  greater  height  when 
he  prepared  his  second  inaugural  address  and  soon  afterward 
declared  that  the  defeated  enemy  would  be  treated  by  the 
Government  with  forbearance  and  kindness.  But  it  should 
not  be  forgotten  that  the  Bateman  Interview  was  one  of  the 
way-marks  of  the  journey  leading  up  to  the  heights  of  Chris- 
tian attainment  which  Mr.  Lincoln  reached. 

But  while  the  Christian  world  accepts  with  the  utmost 
satisfaction  Mr.  Lincoln's  declarations  during  the  later  years 
of  his  Presidency  that  he  was  a  Christian  and  that  he  had 
consciously  experienced  the  regenerating  work  of  the  Spirit 
which  he  always  designated  as  "a  change  of  heart,"  it 
needed  no  testimony  from  Mr.  Lincoln's  lips  to  warrant  or 
to  strengthen  the  assurance  that  he  was  a  devout  child  of 
God  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  His  character  and  life 
declare  him  to  have  been  a  Christian  with  greater  certainty 
than  could  any  oral  or  written  declaration  of  a  religious  ex- 
perience. 

But  the  world  will  always  be  reluctant  to  believe  that 
Abraham  Lincoln's  Christian  3ife  began  as  late  as  the  time 
when  he  claimed  to  have  experienced  a  change  of  heart.  His 
statement  that  he  was  not  a  Christian  at  an  earlier  date,  was 


4o6     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

based  upon  his  lack  of  a  satisfying  religious  experience.  He 
evidently  thought  that  he  should  be  able  to  state  "the  precise 
time"  when  he  became  a  Christian,  which  only  a  limited  num- 
ber of  believers  can  do.  Nor  is  such  knowledge  necessary. 
Christian  life  like  natural  life  has  its  infancy  and  youth,  and 
the  reality  of  later  conscious  existence  does  not  depend  upon 
our  recollection  of  the  beginning  of  that  life.  It  is  enough 
for  any  one  to  know  that  he  is  now  an  accepted  child  of 
God,  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

THE  RESTRAINTS  OF  MODESTY 

undoubtedly  caused  Mr.  Lincoln  to  refrain  from  claiming 
to  be  a  Christian  after  he  had  fully  complied  with  all  the 
conditions  of  salvation. 

He  was  temperamentally  inclined  to  self -depreciation  and 
seemed  incapable  of  claiming  for  himself  any  personal  excel- 
lence or  merit.  When  in  1832  he  was  first  a  candidate  for 
the  legislature,  in  an  exceedingly  modest  circular  to  the  voters, 
he  expressed  the  fear  that  he  was  "more  presuming"  than  was 
becoming,  and  added:  "I  was  born  and  have  ever  remained 
in  the  most  humble  walks  of  life."19 

When  in  1854  he  first  decided  "to  try  to  be  United  States 
senator,"  he  wrote  Judge  Joseph  Gillispie  requesting  his  sup- 
port and  said:  "I  know,  and  acknowledge,  that  you  have 
as  just  claims  to  the  place  as  I  have,  and  therefore  I  cannot 
ask  you  to  yield  to  me  if  you  are  thinking  of  becoming  a 
candidate  yourself."  20 

When  in  1856  the  dispatches  stated  that  in  the  national 
republican  convention  he  had  received  a  large  vote  as  the  nom- 
inee for  vice-president,  with  characteristic  modesty  he  waived 
it  aside  by  saying:  "It  must  have  been  another  Lincoln  who 
resides  in  Massachusetts." 

In  1858  in  furnishing  data  for  the  publisher  of  the  dic- 

19  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  I.,  p.  8. 

20  Ibid.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  265. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        407 

tionary   of   Congress  he   says   of   himself:    "Education  de- 
fective." 

In  1859,  after  his  great  debates  with  Douglas,  in  a  letter 
promising  a  service  requested  by  Hon.  N.  B.  Judd,  he  said: 
"I  shall  attend  to  it  as  well  as  I  know  how,  which,  God  knows, 
will  not  be  very  good."  21 

A  few  days  later  in  a  letter  to  J.  W.  Fell,  he  explained  the 
lack  of  material  in  data  furnished  by  him  for  a  biography,  by 
saying:  "There  is  not  much  of  it  for  the  reason,  I  suppose, 
that  there  is  not  much  of  me.  If  anything  be  made  out 
of  it,  I  wish  it  to  be  modest,  and  not  to  go  beyond  the 
material." 

In  the  data  which  he  furnished  with  this  explanation  and 
request,  he  speaks  of  his  parents  as  having  been  born  of 
"undistinguished  families — second  families  perhaps  I  should 
say."22 

Only  a  few  months  previous  to  his  nomination  at  Chicago, 
in  reply  to  urgent  requests  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  Pres- 
idency, Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "Do  you  believe  that  a  plain,  com- 
mon man,  as  I  am,  of  the  back-river,  if  not  'back-woods' 
country,  is  or  can  be  what  you  so  ardently  wish  I  should  be,  j 
a  real  leader  of  the  people?  You  surely  do  not  believe  that 
I  am  a  great  man,  but  rather  that  I  am  an  earnest  and  sincere 
one."  23 

To  his  Illinois  friends  who  in  1859,  after  his  great  de- 
bate with  Douglas,  insisted  upon  making  him  a  candidate  for 
President  he  frankly  said:  "I  do  not  feel  that  I  have  reached  \ 
the  place  in  public  estimation,  nor  do  I  feel  that  I  possess  j 
the  fitness  and  qualifications  to  be  nominated  for  and  pos-J 
sibly  be  elected  President."24 

And  after  his  election  as  President,  in  an  address  to  the 
legislature  of  Ohio,  February  I3th,  1861,  he  speaks  of  him- 

21  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  V.,  p.  283. 

22  Ibid.,  p.  287. 

23  Robert  Browne,  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  II.,  p.  192. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  394- 


408     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

self  as  being,  "Without  a  name,  perhaps  without  a  reason 
why"  he  "should  have  a  name."25 

During  his  Presidency,  Mr.  Lincoln  stated  to  a  close  friend 
that  the  story  of  his  life  was  "like  the  sentence  in  Gray's 
Elegy — The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor.' ' 

The  beautiful  modesty  and  self-depreciation  revealed  by 
these  disclosures  undoubtedly  had  much  to  do  in  causing  Mr. 
Lincoln  for  so  long  a  period  to  state  that  he  was  not  a  Chris- 
tian, while  his  life,  as  judged  by  friends  and  enemies  alike 
was  a  living  illustration  of  "pure  religion  and  undefiled  before 
our  God  and  Father."28  He  felt  that  to  claim  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian would  be  to  profess  a  condition  of  purity  of  heart  and 
spirit  to  which  he  seemed  unwarranted  in  laying  claim  without 
the  most  assuring  evidence.  And  unfortunately  he  sought  that 
evidence  by  inspecting  his  own  heart,  a  method  which  usually 
is  not  reassuring.  Indeed,  there  are  few  people  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  absolute  honesty  and  truthfulness  who  would  claim 
to  be  Christians  after  rigidly  examining  their  own  hearts  in 
the  light  r  '  ';he  requirements  of  Scripture  as  he  undoubtedly 
was  ace-  tomed  to  do,  especially  after  his  memorable  inter- 
view with  Dr.  Jaquess.  Well  would  it  be  if  all  up-struggling 
souls  were  led  to  turn  their  eyes  from  the  inspection  of  their 
own  hearts  to  a  trustful  vision  of  Christ;  and  to  see  that  a 
claim  to  belong  to  the  redeemed  family  of  God  is  not  based 
upon  feeling  but  upon  faith ;  and  that  the  faith  through  which 
salvation  is  attained,  is  based,  not  upon  experience,  but  upon 
the  immutable  Word  of  God. 

But  at  the  very  time  that  Mr.  Lincoln  disclaimed  being 
a  Christian,  he  confidently,  and  without  hesitation,  claimed 
that 

HE  WAS  CHOSEN  OF  GOD 

to  be  the  ruler  of  the  nation  and  to  accomplish  the  great 
work  to  which  he  had  been  called.  Judge  Whitney  says  "he 
felt  he  was  commissioned  by  God  to  achieve  mighty  results; 

25  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  121. 

26  James  1 :  27.  1 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        409 

...  he  believed  that  God  ruled  the  Universe  through  the 
media  of  agents  and  that  he  was  the  agent  to  save  the  nation 
and  to  abolish  slavery."27 

A  few  days  before  his  first  election  to  the  Presidency,  in 
an  interview  with  Dr.  Bateman,  already  referred  to,  he  stated 
that  he  believed  God  had  a  work  for  him  and  he  was  ready 
for  it 

On  September  28th,  1862,  in  reply  to  an  address  from  the 
Society  of  'Friends,  Mr.  Lincoln  speaks  of  himself  as  "being 
a  humble  instrument  in  the  hands  of  our  heavenly  Father."  28 

In  the  course  of  an  interview  with  Rev.  Dr.  Miner,  he 
said :  "It  has  pleased  Almighty  God  to  place  me  in  my  present 
position,  and  looking  up  to  Him  for  guidance  I  must  work 
out  my  destiny  as  best  I  can."29 

Dr.  Holland,  in  speaking  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  faith  in  an 
overruling  Providence,  says:  "He  believed  in  his  inmost  soul 
that  he  was  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  a  great  purpose.  The  power  was  above  him, 
the  workers  were  around  him,  the  end  was  beyond  him.  In 
him,  Providence,  the  people  and  the  purpose  of  both  met ;  and 
as  a  poor,  weak,  imperfect  man,  he  felt  humbled  by  the  august 
presence  and  crushed  by  the  importance  with  which  he  had 
been  endowed."30 

To  Mr.  James  R.  Gilmore,  the  journalist,  President  Lin- 
coln said:  "God  selects  his  own  instruments,  .  .  .  for  in- 
stance, He  chose  me  to  steer  the  ship  through  a  great  crisis."  " 

FULLY  OBEDIENT  TO  GOD'S  WILL 

Believing  that  he  was  a  called  and  commissioned  agent 
of  the  Most  High,  and  that  he  was  under  definite  and 
imperative  divine  orders  Mr.  Lincoln  was  diligent  and  con- 
stant in  his  efforts  to  ascertain  and  obey  the  will  of  God. 

27  Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln,  p.  276. 

28  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  50. 

29  Lincoln  Scrap-book,  pp.  51-52.      80  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  235. 
31  Personal  Recollection!  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  158. 


410     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

In  reply  to  a  clergyman  who  ventured  to  say,  in  his  pres- 
ence, that  he  "hoped  the  Lord  was  on  our  side,"  Mr.  Lincoln 
said:  "I  am  not  at  all  concerned  about  that,  for  I  know  that 
the  Lord  is  always  on  the  side  of  right.  But  it  is  my  con- 
stant anxiety  and  prayer  that  /  and  this  nation  should  be  on 
the  Lord's  side."32 

The  following  is  peculiarly  significant  in  that  its  closing 
words  rarely  appear  in  any  of  Mr.  Lincoln1!  pronouncements: 
"I  shall  in  the  conscientious  discharge  of  my  duty  to  my 
country  and  my  God,  to  whom  we  all  owe  allegiance,  endeavor 
to  make  the  best  of  it,  so  help  me  God."*3 

In  a  letter  to  Caleb  Russell  and  Sallie  Fenton,  dated  Jan- 
uary 5th,  1863,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "I  am  conscious  of  no 
desire  for  my  country's  welfare  that  is  not  in  consonance 
with  His  will,  and  of  no  plan  upon  which  we  may  not  ask 
His  blessing."34 

In  his  statements  at  the  White  House,  a  record  of  which 
is  given  by  the  Hon.  James  F.  Wilson,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "I 
think  He  means  that  we  shall  do  more  than  we  have  yet  done 
in  furtherance  of  His  plans,  and  He  will  open  the  way  for  our 
doing  it.  I  have  felt  His  hand  upon  me  in  great  trials  and 
submitted  to  His  guidance,  and  I  trust  that  as  He  shall  fur- 
ther open  the  way  I  will  be  ready  to  walk  therein,  relying 
on  His  help  and  trusting  in  His  goodness  and  wisdom."35 

"Whatever  is  God's  will,  that  will  I  do,"  was  the  dominant 
feature  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  life,  and  that  fact  places  him 
in  the  front  ranks  of  the  Christian  forces  regardless  of  his 
conscious  religious  experience;  for  an  unsurrendered  will  is 
the  only  obstacle  that  can  intervene  between  any  human  soul 
and  the  full  favor  of  God. 

32  Six  Months  in  the  White  House,  p.  282. 
83  Lincoln  Scrap-book,  pp.  59-62. 

34  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  174. 

35  North  American  Review,  1896,  p.  667. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        411 

CHRISTIAN  TRUST 

Mr.  Lincoln's  sublime  trust  in  the  Almighty  is  conclusive 
evidence  that  he  was  a  Christian.  In  an  address  to  a  com- 
pany of  ministers,  during  the  progress  of  the  war,  he  re- 
marked :  "Gentlemen,  my  hope  of  success  in  this  struggle  rests 
on  that  immutable  foundation,  the  justness  and  goodness  of 
God."36 

The  following  is  from  the  President's  annual  message 
of  December  ist,  1862:  "And  while  it  has  not  pleased  the 
Almighty  to  bless  us  with  a  return  of  peace,  we  can  but  press 
on  guided  by  the  best  light  He  gives  us,  trusting  that  in  His 
own  good  time  and  wise  way  all  will  yet  be  well."37 

That  Mr.  Lincoln's  trust  in  God  never  wavered  is  indi- 
cated by  the  following  from  Hon.  W.  D.  Kelley:  "During  our 
conversation,  I  said:  'Mr.  President,  don't  you  think  the  rebel- 
lion is  very  nearly  at  an  end  ?' 

"He  took  his  spectacles  from  his  brow  and  raising  his 
head,  after  a  pause  of  a  few  seconds  said:  'I  think  it  is;  I 
think  it  is;  but  if  we  have  not  Divine  support  and  guidance 
there  is  room  yet  for  us  to  fail  utterly  and  we  will  fail. 
.  .  .  You  have  nothing  but  Divine  support  and  guidance  to 
rely  upon.  None  of  us  yet  comprehend  this  rebellion  and  its 
power.' 

"Thus  at  that  time  when  there  seemed  to  be  nothing  to 
invoke  an  expression  of  that  kind  his  sense  of  his,  and  our, 
dependence  upon  God  must  have  utterance."38 

That  there  were  times  when  the  President's  trust  in  God 
ripened  into  full  and  comforting  assurance,  is  indicated  by 
the  following  from  Dr.  Robert  Browne:  "I  went  over  to  the 
President's,  to  see  how  things  were  going  there.  He  was 
engaged,  but  soon  found  an  excuse  to  retire.  When  we  were 
alone,  I  saw  that  a  great  change  had  been  wrought.  He  was 

36  Rev.  J.  A.  Reed,  Scribner's  Magazine,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  339. 

37  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  93. 

38  Eulogies  on  Lincoln,  Scrap-book,  Vol.  II.,  p.  2. 


4i2     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

comparatively  at  his  ease.  His  face  and  features,  distinctly, 
in  smoothed-out  lines  and  cheerful,  disclosed  a  new-born 
hope.  He  was  alive  again,  and  as  he  grasped  my  hand  firmly, 
I  felt  that  the  faith  of  God  was  in  the  man,  and  that  his  soul 
was  full  of  it.  He  stood  before  me,  calm,  resolute  and  deter- 
mined— the  Lincoln  of  other  and  brighter  days.  He  said:  'I 
am  glad  you  have  dropped  in.  I  wanted  to  see  you  just 
a  few  minutes  out  of  the  rush  about  us.  But  things  are  going 
all  right;  we  are  going  to  win  a  victory.'  "39 

Mr.  Oliver  S.  Munsell,  president  of  Wesleyan  University, 
Bloomington,  Illinois,  had  a  very  pleasing  acquaintance  with 
Mr.  Lincoln  which  began  when  he  was  only  fifteen  years  old 
and  continued  during  the  years  that  followed.  In  a  letter  to 
General  Chas.  C.  T.  Collis,  dated  April  I5th,  1893,  referring 
to  his  last  interview  with  President  Lincoln  in  the  White 
House,  Mr.  Munsell  says: 

"In  the  course  of  the  conversation  I  said:  'Mr.  Lincoln, 
in  our  dear  old  Illinois,  of  which  we  have  just  been  talking, 
we  are  anxious,  very  anxious,  in  regard  to  the  issue  of  this 
terrible  war.  We  have  our  opinions,  our  hopes,  and  our  fears. 
And  sometimes  the  suspense  is  terrible.  The  thought  has  come 
to  me,  as  I  have  talked  with  you,  that  you  see  the  whole 
field  as  no  other  man  sees,  or  can  see  it ;  and  it  has  awakened 
in  me  an  intense  desire  to  ask  you,  seeing  as  you  thus  do 
see  it,  will  our  country  come  through  safe  and  alive?' 

"Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  outset  of  our  interview  had  seemed 
more  worn  and  depressed  than  I  had  ever  seen  him  under  any 
circumstances.  No  sooner  had  he  heard  my  question,  than 
his  face  clouded  with  the  heavy  lines  of  anxious  thought,  and 
the  shadows  again  fell  around  him. 

"He  paused  a  moment  before  he  made  any  reply,  and 
when  he  did  essay  to  speak  he  made  two  ineffectual  efforts 
before  he  could  command  his  voice,  and  with  trembling  lips 
and  tears  trickling  down  his  furrowed  cheeks,  said: 

"  'I  do  not  doubt,  I  never  have  doubted  for  a  moment,  that 

sg  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Men  of  his  Time,  Vol.  II,  p.  684. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE       413 

our  country  would  finally  come  through  safe  and  undivided. 
But  do  not  misunderstand  me,  I  do  not  know  how  it  can  be. 
I  do  not  rely  on  the  patriotism  of  our  people,  though  no 
people  rallied  around  their  king  as  ours  have  rallied  around  me. 
I  do  not  trust  in  the  bravery  and  devotion  of  the  boys  in  blue ; 
God  bless  them,  though!  God  never  gave  a  prince  or  con- 
queror such  an  army  as  He  has  given  to  me.  Nor  yet  do  I 
rely  on  the  loyalty  and  skill  of  our  generals;  though,  I  be- 
lieve, we  have  the  best  generals  in  the  world  at  the  head  of 
our  armies.  But  the  God  of  our  fathers,  who  raised  up  this 
country  to  be  the  refuge  and  asylum  of  the  oppressed  and 
down-trodden  of  all  nations,  will  not  let  it  perish  now.  I 
may  not  live  to  see  it,  and  (he  added  after  a  moment's  pause) 
I  do  not  expect  to  live  to  see  it,  but  God  will  bring  us  through 
safe.' 

"I  felt  humbled  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  sublime 
faith  in  the  God  of  our  fathers,  .  .  .  which  shamed  my 
own  doubts  and  fears;  and  from  that  hour  my  faith  in  the 
ultimate  triumph  of  our  country  never  again  faltered,  and  I 
bade  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  it  proved,  a  final  farewell,  thanking  God 
as  I  had  never  before  thanked  Him,  for  such  a  leader  in  our 
country's  deadly  hour  of  peril."40 

TRUST  IN  TIME  OF  TROUBLE 

There  were  many  times  when  Mr.  Lincoln's  trust  in  God 
was  put  to  very  severe  tests ;  times  when  the  trend  of  events 
seemed  to  indicate  that  the  struggle  for  the  preservation  of 
the  nation  was  doomed  to  failure;  times  when  Mr.  Lincoln 
lost  confidence  in  some  of  his  commanding  generals  and  in 
the  success  of  some  of  his  most  cherished  plans  and  efforts; 
but  there  never  came  a  time  when  his  confidence  in  the  ulti- 
mate triumph  of  right  wavered  or  weakened.  The  appalling 
Chancellorsville  disaster  in  May,  1863,  enshrouded  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  in  the  greatest  darkness  he  ever  experienced. 

40  General  Charles  H.  T.  Collis,  The  Religion  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  15. 


414     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

There  was  every  reason  why  the  Union  Army  should  have 
been  victorious,  and  just  as  the  forces  were  about  to  join 
in  that  fearful  struggle,  the  commanding  General  gave  to 
his  army  and  to  the  President,  assurance  that  decisive  victory 
was  certain.  The  existing  conditions  which  were  all  thor- 
oughly understood  by  the  President,  and  the  assurance  re- 
ceived by  him  from  General  Hooker,  caused  him  to  be  illy 
prepared  for  the  tidings  which  in  due  time  came,  telling 
of  the  overwhelming  defeat,  and  humiliating  retreat,  of  the 
Union  forces.  By  no  pen  has  the  majestic  demeanor  of  the 
President  upon  that  occasion  been  so  graphically  depicted  as 
by  that  of  Colonel  W.  O.  Stoddard,  one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
private  secretaries: 

"That  night,  the  last  visitors  in  Lincoln's  room  were  Stan- 
ton  and  Halleck.  They  went  away  together  in  silence,  at 
somewhere  near  nine  o'clock,  and  the  President  was  left  alone. 
Not  another  soul  was  on  that  floor  except  the  one  secretary, 
who  was  busy  with  the  mail  in  his  room  across  the  hall  from 
the  President's;  and  the  doors  of  both  rooms  were  ajar,  for 
the  night  was  warm.  The  silence  was  so  deep  that  the 
ticking  of  a  clock  would  have  been  noticeable;  but  another 
sound  came  that  was  almost  as  regular  and  ceaseless.  It  was 
the  tread  of  the  President's  feet  as  he  strode  slowly  back  and 
forth  across  the  chamber  in  which  so  many  Presidents  of  the 
United  States  had  done  their  work.  Was  he  to  be  the  last 
of  the  line?  The  last  President  of  the  entire  United  States? 
At  that  hour  that  very  question  had  been  asked  of  him  by 
the  battle  of  Chancellorsville.  If  he  had  wavered,  if  he  had 
failed  in  faith  or  courage  or  prompt  decision,  then  the  nation, 
and  not  the  army  of  the  Potomac,  would  have  lost  its  great 
battle. 

"Ten  o'clock  came,  without  a  break  in  the  steady  march, 
excepting  now  and  then  a  pause  in  turning  at  either  wall. 

"Eleven  o'clock  came,  and  then  another  hour  of  that  cease- 
less march  so  accustomed  the  ear  to  it  that  when,  a  little 


COLONEL   W.    O.    STODDARD 

One  of  President  Lincoln's  private  secretaries,  still  living  at  Madison,  N.  J. 
From  a  photograph  presented  the  author  by  Colonel  Stoddard  on  June  25, 
1914- 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        415 

after  twelve,  there  was  a  break  of  several  minutes,  the  sudden 
silence  made  one  put  down  the  letters  and  listen. 

"The  President  may  have  been  at  his  writing  table,  or  he 
may — no  man  knows  or  can  guess;  but  at  the  end  of  the 
minutes,  long  or  short,  the  tramp  began  again.  Two  o'clock, 
and  he  was  walking  yet,  and  when,  a  little  after  three,  the 
secretary's  task  was  done  and  he  slipped  noiselessly  out,  he 
turned  at  the  head  of  the  stairs  for  a  moment.  It  was  so — 
the  last  sound  he  heard  as  he  went  down  was  the  footfall 
in  Lincoln's  room. 

"That  was  not  all,  however.  The  young  man  had  need 
to  return  early,  and  he  was  there  again  before  eight  o'clock. 
The  President's  room  door  was  open  and  he  went  in.  There 
sat  Mr.  Lincoln  eating  breakfast  alone.  He  had  not  been 
out  of  his  room;  but  there  was  a  kind  of  cheery,  hopeful, 
morning  light  on  his  face,  instead  of  the  funereal  battle-cloud 
from  Chancellorsville.  He  had  watched  all  night,  but  a  dawn 
had  come,  for  beside  his  cup  of  coffee  lay  the  written  draft 
of  his  instructions  to  General  Hooker  to  push  forward  to 
fight  again.  There  was  a  decisive  battle  won  that  night  in 
that  long  vigil  with  disaster  and  despair.  Only  a  few  weeks 
later  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  fought  it  over  again  as  des- 
perately, and  they  won  it,  at  Gettysburg."41 

CHRISTIAN  THANKFULNESS 

Nothing  more  clearly  indicates  Mr.  Lincoln's  close  and 
constant  fellowship  with  God  than  his  oft-repeated  expression 
of  personal  gratitude  for  favors  which  he  recognized  as  com- 
ing from  the  hand  of  God.  In  his  annual  message  of  De- 
cember 3rd,  1 86 1,  he  said:  "In  the  midst  of  unprecedented 
political  troubles  we  have  cause  of  great  gratitude  to  God  for 
unusual  good  health,  and  most  abundant  harvests."42 

In  his  annual  message  of  December  8th,  1863,  is  the  fol- 

41  Abraham  Lincoln — Tributes  from  his  Associates,  pp.  48-49. 

42  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VII.,  p.  28. 


416     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

lowing:  "Another  year  of  health,  and  of  sufficiently  abundant 
harvests,  has  passed.  For  these,  and  especially  for  the  im- 
proved condition  of  our  national  affairs,  our  renewed  and 
profoundest  gratitude  to  God  is  due."43 

One  year  later,  in  his  annual  message  of  December  6th, 
1864,  he  said:  "Again  the  blessings  of  health  and  abundant 
harvests  claim  our  profoundest  gratitude  to  Almighty  God."  ** 

THANKS  FOR  VICTORIES 

All  who  are  familiar  with  the  story  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  inner 
life  know  that  it  was  his  custom  when  battles  were  in  progress, 
to  retire  alone  and  plead  with  God  for  victory.  The  story  of 
his  intercessions  with  God  during  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg  is 
fittingly  told  in  this  volume  by  his  own  declarations  and  by 
the  achievements  of  art.*  His  fervent  plea  for  divine  aid 
during  that  memorable  struggle  indicates  his  attitude  and 
actions  upon  all  similar  occasions. 

Mrs.  Pomeroy,  the  Christian  nurse,  tells  us  that  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  engaged  in  prayer  for  victory  while  the  battle  of 
Port  Hudson  was  in  progress,  and  when  news  of  the  victory 
was  received  and  he  was  told,  "There  is  nothing  like  prayer," 
he  promptly  responded,  "Yes,  there  is;  prayer  and  praise  go 
together." 

So,  on  July  4th,  1863,  in  a  proclamation  to  the  nation 
he  said:  "The  President  announces  to  the  country  that  news 
from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  up  to  10  P.  M.  of  the  3rd, 
is  such  as  to  cover  that  army  with  the  highest  honor,  to 
promise  a  great  success  to  the  cause  of  the  Union,  and  to 
claim  the  condolence  of  all  for  the  many  gallant  fallen;  and 
that  for  this  he  especially  desires  that  on  this  day  He  whose 
will,  not  ours,  should  ever  be  done  be  everywhere  remem- 
bered and  reverenced  with  profoundest  gratitude."45 

43  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  224. 
« Ibid.,  Vol.  X.,  p.  283. 
*  See  p.  377. 
46  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  17. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        417 

A  few  days  later,  to  wit,  July  I5th,  1863,  in  announcing 
victories  in  the  field,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "It  has  pleased  Al- 
mighty God  to  hearken  to  the  supplications  and  prayers  of 
an  afflicted  people,  and  to  vouchsafe  to  the  army  and  navy 
of  the  United  States  victories  on  land  and  on  sea  so  signal 
and  so  effective  as  to  furnish  reasonable  grounds  for  aug- 
mented confidence  that  the  union  of  these  states  will  be  main- 
tained, their  Constitution  preserved,  and  their  peace  and  pros- 
perity permanently  restored.  .  .  .  It  is  meet  and  right  to 
recognize  and  confess  the  presence  of  the  Almighty  Father 
and  the  power  of  His  hand  equally  in  these  triumphs  and  in 
these  sorrows.  .  .  .  Now,  therefore,  be  it  known  that 
I  do  set  apart  Thursday,  the  6th  day  of  August  next  to  ... 
render  the  homage  due  to  the  Divine  Majesty  for  the  won- 
derful things  He  has  done  in  the  nation's  behalf."46 

A  few  months  later,  December  7th,  1863,  in  announcing 
Union  victories  in  East  Tennessee,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "I  rec- 
ommend that  all  loyal  people  do,  on  receipt  of  this  information, 
assemble  at  their  places  of  worship  and  render  special  homage 
and  gratitude  to  Almighty  God  for  this  great  advancement  of 
the  national  cause."47 

On  May  Qth,  1864,  in  a  proclamation  to  the  nation,  he 
said:  "To  the  friends  of  Union  and  Liberty:  Enough  is  known 
of  army  operations  within  the  last  five  days  to  claim  an 
especial  gratitude  to  God,  while  what  remains  undone  demands 
our  most  sincere  prayers  to,  and  reliance  upon,  Him  without 
whom  all  human  effort  is  vain.  I  recommend  that  all  patriots 
at  their  homes,  in  their  places  of  public  worship,  and  wher- 
ever they  may  be,  unite  in  common  Thanksgiving  and  prayer 
to  Almighty  God."48 

On  the  same  day,  May  9th,  1864,  in  response  to  a  ser- 
enade, Mr.  Lincoln  used  the  following  expressive  language: 

46  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  32. 

47  Ibid.,  p.  218. 

48  Ibid.,  Vol.  X.,  p.  94. 


418     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

"I  am  indeed  very  grateful  to  the  brave  men  who  have  been 
struggling  with  the  enemy  in  the  field,  to  their  noble  com- 
manders who  have  directed  them,  and  especially  to  our 
Maker."4" 

And  in  response  to  another  serenade  on  that  memorable 
9th  of  May,  1864,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "While  we  are  grateful 
to  all  the  brave  men  and  officers  for  the  events  of  the  past 
few  days,  we  should  above  all,  be  very  grateful  to  Almighty 
God  who  gives  us  the  victory."50 

When  the  news  of  the  downfall  of  the  Confederate  Capital 
reached  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  board  the  Malvern,  he  exclaimed: 
"Thank  God  that  I  have  lived  to  see  this!  It  seems  to  me 
I  have  been  dreaming  a  horrid  dream  for  four  years,  and 
now  the  nightmare  is  gone.  I  want  to  see  Richmond."51 

In  his  last  public  address,  April  nth,  1865,  in  the  fol- 
lowing language  which  was  characteristic  of  all  his  public  life, 
the  great  ruler  said:  "We  meet  this  evening  not  in  sorrow, 
but  in  gladness  of  heart.  The  evacuation  of  Petersburg  and 
Richmond,  and  the  surrender  of  the  principal  insurgent  army, 
give  hope  for  a  righteous  and  speedy  peace,  whose  joyous 
expression  cannot  be  restrained.  In  the  midst  of  this,  how- 
ever, He  from  whom  all  blessings  flow  must  not  be  for- 
gotten."52 

When  told  of  the  worshipful  regard  in  which  he  was  held 
by  the  former  slaves,  with  tearful  solemnity  President  Lincoln 
said:  "If  I  have  been  one  of  the  instruments  in  liberating 
this  long  suffering,  down-trodden  people,  I  thank  God  for  it." 

Of  a  similar  character  was  his  statement  to  Colonel 
McKaye  of  New  York  and  Robert  Dale  Owen,  when  they 
told  Mr.  Lincoln  that  a  white-haired  former  slave  had  said 
to  his  comrades:  "Brederin,  you  don't  know  nosen'  what  you'se 
talkin'  'bout.  Now,  you  just  listen  to  me.  Massa  Linkum, 

49  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  95. 
61  Francis  F.  Browne,  Everyday  Life  of  Lincoln,  p.  568. 
82  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  XL,  p.  84. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        419 

he  eberywhar.     He  knows  eberyting."    Then,  solemnly  look- 
ing up,  he  added — "He  walk  de  earf  like  de  Lord!"53 

Mr.  Carpenter,  the  artist,  tells  us  "that  Mr.  Lincoln  seemed 
much  affected  by  this  account.  He  did  not  smile,  as  another 
man  might  have  done,  but  got  up  from  his  chair,  and  walked 
in  silence  two  or  three  times  across  the  floor.  As  he  resumed 
his  seat,  he  said,  very  impressively:  "It  is  a  momentous  thing 
to  be  the  instrument,  under  Providence,  of  the  liberation  of 
a  race."54 

THANKFUL  FOR  RE-ELECTION 

Properly  to  appreciate  Mr.  Lincoln's  gratitude  for  his  re- 
election in  1864,  it  should  be  remembered  that  on  August 
23rd  of  that  year  he  wrote  his  memorable  statement  expressing 
the  conviction  that  the  election  in  the  coming  November  would 
be  adverse  to  his  administration.  As  elsewhere  stated  in  this 
volume,  there  was  such  a  tremendous  popular  demand  for  a 
cessation  of  hostilities  throughout  the  loyal  states  that  the 
election  undoubtedly  would  have  resulted  in  Mr.  Lincoln's 
defeat  if  the  claim  of  the  opposition  that  the  South  was  ready 
to  return  to  the  Union  had  not  been  shown  to  be  false  by 
the  declaration  of  Jefferson  Davis  that  nothing  short  of  inde- 
pendence would  be  accepted  by  the  South.  This  declaration 
of  the  Confederate  leader  made  public,  and  widely  distrib- 
uted throughout  the  loyal  states  just  previous  to  the  election 
undoubtedly  gave  Mr.  Lincoln  the  meager  majority  of  the  pop- 
ular vote  which  resulted  in  an  overwhelming  majority  in  the 
electoral  college.  Having  passed  through  that  strenuous  cam- 
paign in  which  he  was  unjustly  opposed  and  cruelly  vilified 
by  leaders  of  his  own  party,  and  having  been  wrought  up  to 
the  conviction  which  caused  his  serious  and  settled  apprehen- 
sion of  defeat,  Mr.  Lincoln's  gratitude  for  re-election  found 
expression  in  some  of  the  most  beautiful  utterances  of  his 
life. 

On  the  evening  of  November  9th,  1864,  in  response  to 

53  Six  Months  in  the  White  House,  p.  209.  64  Ibid.,  p.  209. 


420     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

a  serenade  of  congratulation  upon  his  re-election,  with  char- 
acteristic modesty  and  heartfelt  appreciation  he  said:  "I 
am  thankful  to  God  for  this  approval  of  the  people;  but 
while  deeply  grateful  for  this  mark  of  their  confidence  in  me, 
if  I  know  my  heart,  my  gratitude  is  free  from  any  taint  of 
personal  triumph.  I  do  not  impugn  the  motives  of  any  one 
opposed  to  me.  It  is  no  pleasure  to  me  to  triumph  over  any 
one,  but  I  give  thanks  to  the  Almighty  for  this  evidence  of 
the  people's  resolution  to  stand  by  free  government  and  the 
rights  of  humanity."55 

On  the  next  evening,  November  loth,  1864,  upon  a  like 
occasion,  he  expressed  his  recognition  of  the  hand  of  God 
in  his  re-election  as  follows:  "While  I  am  deeply  sensible 
to  the  high  compliment  of  a  re-election,  and  deeply  grateful,  as 
I  trust,  to  Almighty  God,  for  having  directed  my  country- 
men to  a  right  conclusion,  as  I  think,  for  their  own  good, 
it  adds  nothing  to  my  satisfaction  that  any  other  man  may 
be  disappointed  or  pained  by  the  result."58 

According  to  the  provisions  of  the  constitution,  the  ver- 
dict of  the  people  at  the  polls  was  officially  canvassed  by  a 
joint  convention  of  the  two  houses  of  Congress  on  the  9th 
of  February,  1865.  At  that  time  in  response  to  the  noti- 
fication by  a  committee  of  Congress  of  the  result  of  the 
electoral  vote,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "With  deep  gratitude  to  my 
countrymen  for  this  mark  of  their  confidence  .  .  .  and 
above  all  with  an  unshaken  faith  in  the  Supreme  Ruler  of 
nations,  I  accept  this  trust."57 

PREPARED  FOR  DEATH 

That  the  work  of  divine  grace  in  a  trusting,  obedient  soul, 
includes  preparation  for  death  and  for  the  future  life  was 
accepted  by  Mr.  Lincoln  as  unquestionably  true.  He  regarded 
such  a  work  as  of  priceless  value,  and  therefore,  on  February 

55  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  p.  262- 

66  Ibid.,  pp.  264-265. 

"  Ibid.,  Vol.  XL,  p.  10. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        421 

3rd,  1842,  he  wrote  to  his  friend,  Joshua  F.  Speed,  whose 
wife  at  the  time  was  seriously  ill,  stating  that  if  she  should 
be  called  away  by  death  it  would  be  "a  great  consolation  to 
know  that  she  is  so  well  prepared  to  meet  it."58 

At  the  time  Mr.  Lincoln  thus  expressed  his  high  estimate 
of  a  conscious  preparation  for  death,  and  of  a  religious  ex- 
perience in  making  that  preparation,  he  was  in  the  prime  of 
his  young  manhood,  only  thirty-three  years  of  age,  and  was 
writing  to  his  close  friend  for  the  purpose  of  contributing  in 
largest  possible  measure  to  that  friend's  consolation  in  the 
sorrow  of  apprehended  bereavement. 

In  a  letter  written  in  January,  1851,  he  reminded  his  dying 
father  of  the  assurances  of  divine  compassion  and  of  the 
future  life  which  are  adapted  to  minister  consolation  in  such 
an  hour. 

With  the  realization  of  human  need  of  a  preparation  for 
death  which  is  clearly  indicated,  Mr.  Lincoln,  on  the  22nd 
day  of  February,  1861,  while  on  his  way  to  Washington  to 
assume  the  duties  of  the  Presidency,  in  a  speech  at  Indepen- 
dence Hall,  Philadelphia,  among  other  things  stated:  "I  have 
said  nothing  but  what  I  am  willing  to  live  by,  and  if  it  be 
the  pleasure  of  Almighty  God,  to  die  by."59 

At  another  time  he  remarked:  "I  do  not  consider  that  I 
have  ever  accomplished  anything  without  God,  and  if  it  be 
His  will  that  I  must  die  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin,  I  must 
be  resigned.  I  must  do  my  duty  as  I  see  it  and  leave  the 
rest  with  God."60 

During  his  administration  as  President,  in  speaking  of 
well  known  plots  against  his  life,  he  said:  "But  I  see  no 
other  safeguard  against  these  murderers,  but  to  be  always 
ready  to  die,  as  Christ  advises  it."61 

At  a  time  of  high  exhilaration,  in  contemplation  of  duty 

58  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  I.,  p.  186. 

59  Ibid.,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  158. 

60  H.  C.  Whitney,  Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Lincoln,  p.  278. 

61  Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  pp.  706-711. 


422     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

and  danger,  Mr.  Lincoln  stated:  "I  am  in  God's  hands;  let 
Him  do  with  me  what  seemeth  good  to  Him."62 

In  the  words  of  no  earthly  ruler  known  to  history  is  there 
found  more  of  potential  pathos  than  the  following:  "Now  I 
see  the  end  of  this  terrible  conflict,  with  the  same  joy  of 
Moses,  when  at  the  end  of  his  trying  forty  years  in  the 
wilderness;  and  I  pray  my  God  to  grant  me  to  see  the 
days  of  peace  and  untold  prosperity,  which  will  follow  this 
cruel  war,  as  Moses  asked  God  to  see  the  other  side  of 
Jordan,  and  enter  the  promised  land.  But,  do  you  know, 
that  I  hear  in  my  soul,  as  the  voice  of  God,  giving  me  the 
rebuke  which  was  given  to  Moses? 

"Yes,  every  time  that  my  soul  goes  to  God  to  ask  the  favor 
of  seeing  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan,  and  eating  the  fruits 
of  that  peace,  after  which  I  am  longing  with  such  an  un- 
speakable desire,  do  you  know  that  there  is  a  still  but  solemn 
voice  which  tells  me  that  I  will  see  those  things  only  from 
a  long  distance,  and  that  I  will  be  among  the  dead  when  the 
nation,  which  God  granted  me  to  lead  through  those  awful 
trials,  will  cross  the  Jordan,  and  dwell  in  that  land  of 
promise."63 

In  connection  with  the  above  statements  to  Father  Chi- 
niquy,  Mr.  Lincoln  expressed  his  conviction  that  he  would  be 
the  victim  of  assassination,  and  added: 

"So  many  plots  already  have  been  made  against  my  life 
that  it  is  really  a  miracle  that  they  have  all  failed."  This 
Mr.  Lincoln  considered  the  more  remarkable  because,  as  he 
at  that  time  said  and  as  the  world  now  knows,  those  plots 
"were  in  the  hands  of  skilled  murderers  evidently  trained"  by 
his  implacable  enemies.  "But,"  he  said,  "can  we  expect  that 
God  will  make  a  perpetual  miracle  to  save  my  life?  I  believe 
not."  And  with  deep  feeling  he  added:  "I  hope  and  pray  that 
He  will  hear  no  murmur  from  me  when  I  fall  for  my  nation's 
sake."  Those  solemn  words  were  spoken  when  Mr.  Lincoln 

62  W.  M.  Thayer,  From  Pioneer  Home  to  White  House,  p.  352. 

63  Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  pp.  706-711. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        423 

knew  the  dogs  of  death  were  on  his  track,  eager  to  overtake 
him.  No  man  ever  occupied  the  Presidential  office  so  beset 
and  pursued  by  dangers  as  he  was.  And  the  apprehension  of 
the  ultimate  success  of  the  plots  against  his  life  did  not  arise 
wholly  from  his  knowledge  of  the  murderous  hatred  of  some 
who,  at  that  time,  were  seeking  to  overthrow  the  nation. 

Mr.  Lincoln  fully  understood,  as  the  world  has  since 
learned,  that  bitter  enmities  had  been  aroused  against  him 
by  certain  features  of  his  law  practice  in  Illinois,  and  that 
those  enmities  had  grown  more  bitter,  vindictive  and  unscru- 
pulous with  the  progress  of  time.  The  way  from  Springfield 
to  Washington  was  thickly  set  with  perils  which  he  avoided 
only  by  constant  vigilance  and  heroic  action.  Malignant  ene- 
mies gnashed  their  teeth  in  rage  when,  by  an  unexpected 
midnight  dash,  he  reached  the  capital  city  notwithstanding 
their  infamous  purposes  and  plots  to  terminate  his  life  at 
Baltimore. 

And  Mr.  Lincoln  was  fully  cognizant  of  the  fact  that 
his  first  inauguration  was  successfully  conducted  because  the 
most  skillful  and  ample  preparation  had  been  made  to  protect 
him  from  assassination  at  that  time.  The  world  did  not 
then  know,  but  Mr.  Lincoln  did,  that  all  the  space  where 
enemies  might  seek  to  conceal  bombs,  in  the  basement  of  the 
Capitol  and  in  other  places  of  the  building,  was  guarded  by 
men  thoroughly  organized  and  armed  to  guard  him  and  effec- 
tually to  crush  the  incipient  rebellion  some  enemies  of  the 
nation  had  planned  to  start  during  the  inaugural  ceremonies. 

Mr.  Lincoln  further  knew  that  the  shot,  which  on  a  dark 
night  sent  a  bullet  through  his  hat,  just  above  his  head,  as 
he  was  riding  alone  to  the  Soldiers'  Home,  was  fired  by  an 
enemy  who  was  seeking  his  life.*  He  knew  that  his  personal 
enemies  had  joined  forces  with  the  enemies  of  his  country, 
and  were  untiring  in  efforts  to  kill  him,  and  he  was  appre- 

*  See  p.  532. 


424    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

hensive  they  would  accomplish  their  purpose.  Yet,  in  spite 
of  all  this  he  solemnly  declared  himself  to  be  always  prepared 
for  death,  which  certainly  implied  that  he  was  a  Christian. 

CLAIMED  CHRISTIAN  PRIVILEGES 

The  self -depreciation  which  for  years  caused  Mr.  Lincoln 
to  refrain  from  claiming  that  he  was  a  Christian  did  not 
prevent  him  from  exercising  the  Christian's  sacred  privilege 
of  prayer.  During  all  of  his  Presidency,  according  to  his 
own  statements,  he  was  a  daily  visitant  at  the  Mercy-seat 
where  the  sweet  incense  of  his  prayers  ascended  to  the  throne 
of  God.  He  tells  us  that  sometimes  his  daily  prayer  would 
consist  of  not  more  than  ten  words  "but  those  words  were 
always  uttered."  That  daily  communion  led  to  special  sea- 
sons of  fervent  intercession  at  crisis  periods,  when  he  wrought 
mightily  in  prayer  with  God  for  the  nation,  as  did  Moses  for 
ancient  Israel,  even  to  the  extent  of  remonstrating  with  Je- 
hovah on  behalf  of  his  own  cause  when  He  seemed  inclined 
to  turn  from  His  chosen  people.  Moses  was  on  such  terms 
with  God  that  he  ventured  to  interpose  for  the  safeguarding 
of  His  honor  and  renown.6*  Jeremiah  was  so  devoted  to  the 
Lord  that  he  boldly  said:  "Do  not  disgrace  the  throne  of  Thy 
glory,"65  and  Abraham  Lincoln  was  not  less  jealous  for  God's 
honor  when  during  the  progress  of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg, 
he  told  the  Lord  that  the  nation's  cause  "was  His  cause." 

Such  loving  loyalty  to  God  and  such  zeal  in  interceding 
for  His  cause,  and  in  safeguarding  His  honor  are  indicative 
of  a  high  state  of  grace.  And  the  "solemn  vow"  which  Mr. 
Lincoln  made  on  that  memorable  occasion,  embraced  all  that 
is  included  in  full  Christian  consecration,  and  was  sealed  by 
his  declaration,  "And  He  did  stand  by  you  boys,  and  I  will 
stand  by  Him."  That  agonizing  intercession  and  that  sacred 
covenant  with  God  were  followed,  as  he  tells  us,  by  "a 
sweet  peace"  which  gave  assurance  to  his  satisfaction  that 

64  Num.  13 : 14-19.         65  Jer.  14 : 21. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        425 

his  prayer  was  answered,  and  bears  witness  to  all  the  attentive 
world  that  he  was  on  terms  of  intimate  fellowship  with  the 
Almighty. 

It  is  natural  for  the  human  heart  to  cry  out  to  God  for 
help  at  times  of  sore  distress  and  need,  but  a  consciousness 
of  access  to  a  throne  of  grace  and  a  satisfying  assurance  of 
acceptance,  such  as  Mr.  Lincoln  had,  are  the  privileges  of  none 
but  those  who  are  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

The  strongest  and  indeed  the  conclusive  evidence  that 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  Christian  was  his 


CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER  AND  LIFE 

Attorney  General  Bates,  while  a  member  of  his  Cabinet, 
said:  "Mr.  Lincoln  comes  very  near  being  a  perfect  man.-" 

Secretary  Seward  declared  Mr.  Lincoln  to  be  the  best  man 
he  had  ever  known. 

F.  B.  Carpenter,  the  artist,  declared  that  Mr.  Lincoln's 
conversation  was  always  absolutely  pure  and  proper. 

Dr.  Stone,  his  family  physician,  said:  "I  affirm  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  is  the  purest  hearted  man  with  whom  I  ever  came  in 
contact." 

Father  Chiniquy  said:  "I  found  him  the  most  perfect  type 
of  Christian  I  ever  met." 

"His  public  life  was  a  continuous  service  of  God  and 
his  fellowmen  controlled  and  guided  by  the  Golden  Rule," 
was  the  declaration  of  Hon.  L.  E.  Chittenden. 

Dr.  J.  G.  Holland  says:  "Moderate,  frank,  truthful,  gentle, 
forgiving,  loving,  just,  Mr.  Lincoln  will  always  be  remem- 
bered as  eminently  a  Christian  President." 

Hon.  J.  D.  Long  declared  that  "no  act  of  his  life  was 
ever  counted  in  derogation  of  the  integrity  of  his  life  and 
example." 

Sir  Edward  Mallet  was  proud  to  say  "he  left  upon  me  the 
impression  of  a  sterling  son  of  God." 

The  Monitor,  a  Catholic  organ  published  at  San  Francisco, 


426    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

speaks  of  "his  pre-eminently  Christian  character"  and  declares 
that  he  was  "at  all  times  a  sincere  and  consistent  follower  of 
the  gentle  Nazafene,  and  first  and  foremost  a  Christian  man." 

"His  spirit  was  that  of  one  who  communed  with  the  Most 
High,"  said  the  distinguished  statesman  and  author,  Hon. 
Wm.  H.  Smith. 

None  knew  Mr.  Lincoln  more  intimately  than  did  Judge 
Henry  C.  Whitney,  who  says:  "More  than  any  other  man  in 
modern  life  he  completely  fulfilled  the  requirement  and  justi- 
fied the  asseveration  that  'Pure  religion  and  undefiled  before 
God  and  the  Father  is  this,  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widow 
in  their  affliction  and  to  keep  himself  unspotted  from  the 
world." 

Major  J.  B.  Merwin,  who  was  closely  associated  with  Mr. 
Lincoln  for  many  years,  says:  "He  came  to  be  one  of  the  most 
profoundly  Christian  men  I  ever  knew." 

Former  President  Roosevelt  says:  "If  ever  there  was  a 
man  who  practically  applied  what  is  taught  in  our  churches 
it  was  Abraham  Lincoln." 

John  Lothrop  Motley  says:  "Never  was  such  vast  political 
power  placed  in  purer  hands;  never  did  a  heart  remain  more 
humble  and  unsophisticated  after  the  highest  prizes  of  earthly 
ambition  had  been  attained." 

This  testimony  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  Christian  character  and 
life,  which  might  be  indefinitely  enlarged,  is  fittingly  closed 
by  the  declaration  of  Hon.  John  Hay,  one  of  his  private 
secretaries,  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  "one  of  the  most  de- 
voted and  faithful  servants  of  Almighty  God  who  ever  sat 
in  the  highest  places  of  the  world.  He  was  the  greatest  man 
since  Christ." 

HOME  AND  FAMILY  LIFE 

In  his  home  life,  Abraham  Lincoln  gave  strong  evidence 
of  his  high-toned,  Christian  character.  Never  was  there  a 
more  loyal  and  loving  husband,  or  a  more  devoted  father 
than  he.  His  ardent  attachment  to  his  wife  is  mentioned  at 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE       427 

length  elsewhere  in  this  volume.  The  following  statement  by 
the  Hon.  W.  D.  Kelley  of  Pennsylvania,  gives  an  added  touch 
to  the  faithful  representation  of  a  home  and  family  scene  in 
the  famous  picture  of  "Tad"  and  his  father,  referred  to  below: 

"His  intercourse  with  his  family  was  beautiful  as  that  with 
his  friends.  I  think  that  father  never  loved  his  children  more 
fondly  than  he.  The  President  never  seemed  grander  in 
my  sight  than  when,  stealing  upon  him  in  the  evening,  I 
would  find  him  with  a  book  open  before  him,  as  he  is  rep- 
resented in  the  popular  photograph,  with  little  Tad'  beside 
him.  There  were  of  course  a  great  many  curious  books  sent 
to  him,  and  it  seemed  to  be  one  of  the  special  delights  of 
his  life  to  open  those  books  at  such  an  hour,  that  his  boy 
could  stand  beside  him,  and  they  could  talk  as  he  turned  over 
the  pages,  the  father  thus  giving  to  the  son  a  portion  of 
that  care  and  attention  of  which  he  was  ordinarily  deprived 
by  the  duties  of  office  pressing  upon  him.'"8 

As  indicating  that  this  fellowship  between  Mr.  Lincoln  and 
his  little  son  extended  also  to  the  perusal  of  the  pages  of 
the  Scripture  and  was  of  frequent  occurrence,  the  following 
is  significant:  "Captain  Mix,  being  for  a  time  in  charge  of 
President  Lincoln's  bodyguard,  was  upon  terms  of  very  close 
intimacy  with  the  President.  He  saw  him  when  others  did 
not,  and  he  saw  him  many  times  as  he  was  not  seen  by 
others.  So  close  were  his  relations  with  the  President  and 
his  family  that  the  Captain  often  took  breakfast  with  them 
at  their  summer  residence  at  the  Soldiers'  Home.  This  fact, 
and  the  high  character  of  Captain  Mix,  give  peculiar  force 
to  the  following  statement  by  him:  'Many  times  have  I  lis- 
tened to  our  most  eloquent  preachers,  but  never  with  the  same 
feeling  of  awe  and  reverence  as  when  our  Christian  President, 
with  his  arm  around  his  son,  with  his  deep,  earnest  tone,  each 
morning  read  a  chapter  from  the  Bible.'  "  67 

Mrs.  Pomeroy,  as  nurse,  ministered  to  the  afflicted  mem- 

••  Six  Months  in  the  White  House,  pp.  92-93. 
67  Ibid.,  p.  261. 


428    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

bers  of  the  President's  family  for  several  months  and  the 
great  depth  to  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  moved  by  his  affection 
for  the  members  of  his  family,  and  by  the  bereavement  through 
which  he  passed,  is  indicated  by  the  following: 

"On  arriving  at  the  Executive  Mansion,  Miss  Dix  con- 
ducted her  into  the  green  room,  where  the  lifeless  remains 
of  Willie  had  just  been  laid  out.  Thence,  she  was  taken 
to  Mrs.  Lincoln's  chamber,  where  she  was  lying  quite  sick. 
From  Mrs.  Lincoln's  room  she  was  led  into  an  adjoining 
one  where  little  Tad'  lay  in  a  dying  condition.  The  phy- 
sicians had  relinquished  all  hope  of  his  recovery  and  he  was 
not  expected  to  live  twenty-four  hours.  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
sitting  by  him,  'the  very  picture  of  despair.'  'Mrs.  Pom- 
eroy,  Mr.  President,'  said  Miss  Dix.  Mr.  Lincoln  arose, 
and  very  heartily  shook  her  hand,  saying:  'I  am  glad  to  see 
you;  I  have  heard  of  you.  You  have  come  to  a  sad  house.' 
His  deep  emotion  choked  further  utterance  and  the  tears 
streamed  down  his  careworn  cheeks."68 

"Several  weeks  after  the  death  of  Willie,  Mr.  Lincoln, 
with  several  members  of  his  Cabinet,  spent  a  few  days  at 
Fortress  Monroe,  watching  military  operations  upon  the  Pen- 
insula. He  improved  his  spare  time  there  in  reading  Shake- 
speare. One  day  he  was  reading  'Hamlet'  when  he  called  to 
his  private  secretary:  'Come  here,  Colonel;  I  want  to  read  you 
a  passage.'  The  Colonel  responded,  when  the  President  read 
the  discussion  on  ambition  between  Hamlet  and  his  courtiers, 
and  the  soliloquy  in  which  conscience  debates  about  a  future 
state.  Then  he  read  passages  from  'Macbeth/  and  finally 
opened  to  the  third  act  of  'King  John/  where  Constance 
bewails  her  lost  boy.  Closing  the  book,  and  recalling  the 
words: 

'  'And,  father  cardinal,  I  have  heard  you  say 
That  we  shall  see  and  know  our  friends  in  heaven ; 
If  that  be  true  I  shall  see  my  boy  again/ 

*8  William  M.  Thayer,  From  Pioneer  Home  to  White  House,  p.  346. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        429 

Mr.  Lincoln  said:  'Colonel,  did  you  ever  dream  of  a  lost 
friend,  and  feel  that  you  were  holding  sweet  communion  with 
that  friend,  and  yet  have  a  sad  consciousness  that  it  was  not 
reality? — just  so  I  dream  of  my  boy  Willie.'  Overcome  with 
emotion,  he  dropped  his  head  on  the  table  and  sobbed  aloud. 

"Beautiful  example  of  paternal  love  in  the  highest  place  of 
the  land!  The  million  of  fathers  over  whom  he  ruled  found 
in  him  a  worthy  father  to  imitate."69 

Few  children  ever  more  deeply  interested  mankind  than 
did  dear  little  "Tad,"  President  Lincoln's  youngest  son. 
After  the  death  of  Willie  the  little  fellow  crept  into  his 
father's  life  in  a  marvelous  measure.  Tearfully  touching  is 
the  story  told  of  the  nights  when  the  careworn  and  weary 
ruler,  while  seeking  the  rest  he  sorely  needed,  would  hear 
a  familiar  tap  upon  his  chamber  door  and  answering  would 
find  his  darling  boy  waiting  outside  to  feel  his  father's  loving 
embraces  and  to  cuddle  up  to  him  in  bed  where  he  would 
remain  until  morning.  Such  incidents  were  common  during 
those  months  in  the  White  House,  and  none  but  those  with 
a  flinty  heart  can  read  with  tearless  eyes  the  following  by  F. 
B.  Carpenter: 

"Little  Tad's'  frantic  grief  upon  being  told  that  his  father 
had  been  shot  was  alluded  to  in  the  Washington  correspond- 
ence of  the  time.  For  twenty-four  hours  the  little  fellow  was 
perfectly  inconsolable.  Sunday  morning,  however,  the  sun 
rose  in  unclouded  splendor,  and  in  his  simplicity  he  looked 
upon  this  as  a  token  that  his  father  was  happy.  'Do  you 
think  my  father  has  gone  to  heaven?'  he  asked  of  a  gentle- 
man who  had  called  upon  Mrs.  Lincoln.  'I  have  not  a  doubt 
of  it/  was  the  reply.  'Then,'  he  exclaimed,  in  his  broken 
way,  'I  am  glad  he  has  gone  there,  for  he  never  was  happy 
after  he  came  here.  This  was  not  a  good  place  for  him !'  "70 

69  William  M.  Thayer,  From  Pioneer  Home  to  White  House,  pp.  356-357. 

70  Six  Months  in  the  White  House,  p.  293. 


430    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

WHY  NOT  A  CHURCH  MEMBER 

"Blessed  be  God  who  in  this  our  great  trial  giveth  us  the 
Churches."  This  very  expressive  utterance,  made  in  response 
to  the  greetings  of  a  company  of  ministers,  indicates  Mr. 
Lincoln's  ardent  affection  for  the  Christian  church  in  all  its 
branches,  and  his  high  appreciation  of  its  influence  for  good. 
There  are  many  similar  declarations  by  Mr.  Lincoln  of  the 
same  import  and  equally  clear  and  emphatic.  And  yet  ardent 
as  was  his  attachment  to  the  church,  unequivocal  as  was  his 
belief  in  its  divine  origin,  faithful  as  was  his  attendance  upon 
its  services,  liberal  as  were  his  contributions  to  its  work,  and 
steadfast  as  was  his  purpose  to  live  in  accordance  with  its 
requirements  and  teachings,  '  Mr.  Lincoln  never  became  a 
church  member.  There  were  two  things  either  one  of  which 
was  in  itself  sufficient  to  prevent  him  from  uniting  with  the 
Church.  The  first  was 

LENGTHY  AND  OBJECTIONABLE  CREEDS. 

Respecting  this  Hon.  H.  C.  Deming  says:  "I  am  here  re- 
minded of  an  impressive  remark  which  he  made  to  me  and 
which  I  shall  never  forget.  He  said  he  had  never  united 
himself  to  any  church  because  he  found  difficulty  in  giving  his 
assent  without  mental  reservation  to  the  long,  complicated 
statement  of  Christian  doctrine  which  characterized  their 
articles  of  belief  and  confessions  of  faith.  'When  any  church, 
he  said,  will  inscribe  over  its  altar  as  its  sole  qualification 
for  membership  the  Saviour's  condensed  statement  of  the  sub- 
stance of  both  law  and  gospel,  'Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with 
all  thy  mind,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,'  that  church  will  I 
join  with  all  my  heart  and  with  all  my  soul."71 

To  his  pastor,  Dr.  P.  D.  Gurley,  and  to  others,  Mr.  Lin- 

71  Henry  Champion  Deming,  Eulogy  on  Lincoln,  before  the  General  As- 
sembly, Hartford,  Conn.,  June  8th,  1865. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE       431 

coin  made  declarations  identical  in  significance  and  almost 
identical  in  language.  In  the  Deming  interview  he  does  not 
express  any  objection  to  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  but  to 
what  he  designates  "the  long,  complicated  statements"  of 
those  doctrines.  His  own  declarations,  already  quoted,  prove 
conclusively  that  he  was  a  firm  believer  in  all  the  essential 
doctrines  of  Christianity;  but  he  could  not  accept  those  doc- 
trines as  stated  in  church  symbols.  In  this  he  was  doubtless 
in  harmony  with  a  large  and  growing  sentiment  in  the  church, 
as  is  shown  by  the  great  labor  which  during  recent  years  it 
has  bestowed  upon  the  work  of  changing  the  statements  of 
its  doctrines  so  as  to  remove  all  needlessly  objectionable  fea- 
tures. And  the  great  progress  made  in  this  .revision  of  church 
symbols,  since  the  foregoing  statements  were  made  by  Mr. 
Lincoln,  fully  justifies  his  objection  to  the  manner  in  which 
Christian  doctrines  at  that  time  were  stated.  His  course  in 
this  matter  was  characteristic  of  his  prevailing  attitude  and 
shows  the  unusual  extent  to  which  he  was  governed  by  his 
conscientious  regard  for  absolute  truthfulness.  He  knew  that 
the  "sole  qualification  for  membership"  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  which  he  regularly  attended,  was  trusting  obedience 
to  Christ,  but  in  his  estimation  such  membership  included  an 
acceptance  of  all  the  doctrinal  declarations  of  the  church  sym- 
bols, and  he  was  unwilling  to  appear  as  approving  even  with 
"mental  reservation"  doctrinal  statements  which  he  did  not 
fully  accept.  He  did  without  scruple  take  an  oath  to  support 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  permitted  and 
protected  slavery,  but  he  regarded  the  covenant  of  church 
membership  as  too  peculiarly  sacred  to  be  taken  without  full 
and  unqualified  approval  of  all  the  doctrines  held  and  taught 
by  that  organization. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  declaration  of  his  willingness,  with  all  his 
heart  and  soul,  to  unite  with  a  church  having  no  condition  of 
membership  but  supreme  love  for  God  and  for  mankind,  indi- 
cates his  high  estimate  of  Christian  living.  That  his  standard 
is  higher  than  are  the  conditions  of  membership  in  any  church, 


432    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

and  is  far  above  the  possibility  of  human  compliance,  does 
not  to  any  extent  weaken  the  force  of  his  belief  that  it 
should  be  the  aim  and  effort  of  every  Christian  to  attain  unto 
that  standard,  and  that  nothing  more  or  less  than  that  should 
be  required  for  membership  in  the  church.  This  candid  ex- 
planation by  Mr.  Lincoln  of  the  reason  why  he  never  became 
a  church  member  is  an  eloquent  plea  for  greater  brevity  and 
simplicity  in  church  symbols.  Church  creeds  usually  have  been 
formulated  at  times  of  strife,  and  in  the  white  heat  of  con- 
troversy. In  many  cases  they  have  proved  a  barrier  to  church 
membership  as  they  did  to  Mr.  Lincoln  even  after  his  faith, 
experience,  and  life  had  given  assurance  that  he  was  a  Chris- 
tian. We  shall  lose  one  of  the  most  important  lessons  of 
his  life  if  we  fail  duly  to  consider  its  bearings  upon  this 
question. 

Quite  as  potential  as  were  lengthy  and  objectionable  creeds 
in  keeping  Mr.  Lincoln  from  becoming  a  church  member  was 

CHURCH  TOLERANCE  OF  SLAVERY. 

"If  slavery  is  not  wrong,  nothing  is  wrong.  I  cannot 
remember  when  I  did  not  so  think  and  feel."  This  declara- 
tion of  Mr.  Lincoln,  made  in  1864,  and  already  cited,  expresses 
his  lifelong  convictions  and  feelings  toward  slavery. 

On  the  ist  of  July,  1854,  he  carefully  wrote  two  "Frag- 
ments" in  which  he  expressed  his  convictions  concerning  that 
institution.  In  one  of  these,  he  characterized  slavery  as  "the 
great  durable  curse  of  the  race,"  by  which  labor  is  made  "the 
double-refined  curse  of  God  upon  His  creatures."72 

His  constant  claim  that  slavery  should  be  abolished 
"wherever  our  votes  can  legally  reach  it"  was  based  upon 
his  conviction  that  slavery  was  morally  wrong.  So  deep  was 
his  realization  of  its  evil  character,  and  so  dominant  in  his 
soul  was  the  conviction  that  it  should  be  unyieldingly  opposed 
that  at  the  seeming  sacrifice  of  every  personal  ambition  he 

"  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  II.,  p.  185. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE       433 

fought  it  with  religious  vehemence  and  determination.  In 
view  of  the  extent  to  which  slavery  was  entrenched  and  the 
strength  and  determination  with  which  it  was  and  would  be 
defended,  he  exclaimed:  "The  problem  is  too  mighty  for  me 
— may  God  in  His  mercy  superintend  the  solution."  73 

This  impassioned  appeal  to  God  shows  conclusively  that 
Mr.  Lincoln's  opposition  to  slavery  was  prompted  by  the 
highest  Christian  motives.  Believing,  as  he  did,  that  slavery 
was  inherently  wrong  he  appealed  to  the  Almighty  for  aid 
and  direction  in  opposing  and  resisting  it.  And  he  naturally 
and  rightfully  looked  to  the  church  and  to  Christians  for 
sympathy  and  co-operation  in  his  warfare  against  that  wrong. 

But  instead  of  finding  the  sympathy  and  aid  which  he 
believed  he  should  receive  from  the  church  and  from  Chris- 
tian people,  he  found  the  church  in  all  the  slave-holding  states 
filled  and  ruled  by  slave  holders,  and  in  the  free  states  having 
a  large  and  influential  pro-slavery  membership.  During  the 
early  years  here  referred  to  churches  had  not  divided  on  the 
slavery  question  as  they  did  later,  but  maintained  organic  unity 
throughout  the  nation.  In  all  the  slave  states  slave  holders 
were  in  absolute  control  of  the  church,  and  did  not  permit  any 
church  influence  in  opposition  to  slavery.  No  word  against 
slavery  was  permitted  in  any  pulpit  of  the  South,  and,  as  Mr. 
Lincoln  said  in  1860,  "the  very  teachers  of  religion  have  come 
to  defend  it  from  the  Bible  and  to  claim  for  it  a  divine  char- 
acter and  sanction."7* 

No  antislavery  articles  appeared  in  any  church  paper 
published  in  the  slave  states  and  no  deliverance  of  the  church 
councils,  conferences,  or  assemblies  in  those  states  contained 
any  declaration  unfriendly  to  slavery.  In  the  free  states  the 
pro-slavery  element  in  the  principal  churches  was  strong  and 
aggressive  and  excluded  antislavery  teachings  from  the  pulpit 
and  from  church  organs  and  deliverances.  It  was  declared 
to  be  "preaching  politics"  for  ministers  to  speak  against 

73  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  II.,  p.  280. 

74  Holland's  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  238. 


434    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

slavery  in  their  sermons,  and  that  was  forbidden  and  effect- 
ively prohibited.  The  exclusion  of  slave  holders  from  church 
membership  by  some  of  the  smaller  churches,  and  the  anti- 
slavery  views  of  some  people  in  other  churches,  in  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's opinion,  accentuated  the  enormity  of  church  tolerance 
of  slavery. 

A  still  stronger  influence  in  making  conspicuous  the  pro- 
slavery  attitude  of  the  church  was  the  open  espousal  of  the 
antislavery  cause  by  people  not  connected  with  the  evangelical 
churches.  The  great  abolitionists,  Garrison  and  Phillips,  with 
their  less  distinguished  associates,  were  not  church  people,  and 
their  courage  and  fervor  in  denouncing  and  resisting  slavery 
caused  the  attitude  of  the  church  to  that  institution  to  appear 
very  objectionable  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  There  was,  as  he  believed 
and  said,  a  "moral  aspect"  to  the  slavery  question  which 
made  imperative  the  duty  of  the  church  and  of  its  entire 
membership  to  oppose  it.  Politically  he  could  and  did  submit 
to  the  continuance  of  slavery  in  the  states  where  it  existed, 
for  it  was  there  under  the  protection  of  the  national  Consti- 
tution, for  which  he  had  the  most  profound  reverence;  but 
religiously  he  could  not  regard  slavery  otherwise  than  with 
unqualified  disapproval.  While  he  believed  the  government 
was  solemnly  bound  by  the  Constitution  to  protect  slavery 
where  it  then  existed,  he  also  believed  that  the  church  was 
more  solemnly  bound  by  the  requirements  of  Christianity  to 
protest  against  it  as  inherently  wrong  and  to  seek  its  de- 
struction. Therefore,  the  pro-slavery  attitude  of  the  church 
and  of  many  Christian  people  was  so  at  variance  with  Mr. 
Lincoln's  convictions  as  to  be  to  him  an  insuperable  obstacle 
to  church  membership.  He  regarded  the  sacred  covenants  of 
church  membership  as  including  an  approval  of  the  attitude 
of  the  church  to  slavery,  and  that  approval  his  absolute  truth- 
fulness made  it  impossible  for  him  to  give.  His  course  in  this 
matter  was  like  that  of  vast  numbers  of  other  high-minded 
antislavery  people.  Thousands  of  Christian  people  withdrew 
from  the  church  because  of  its  attitude  to  slavery;  and  for 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE       435 

the  same  reason  multitudes  refused  to  become  church  mem- 
bers. Many  brilliant  preachers  renounced  their  ministerial 
standing  and  went  from  the  pulpit  to  the  platform  that  they 
might  with  unrestrained  freedom  denounce  slavery,  and  the 
pro-slavery  attitude  of  the  church.  An  antislavery  pamphlet 
bore  the  title,  "The  Brotherhood  of  Thieves,"  as  a  designa- 
tion of  the  connivance  of  church  people  with  slavery,  and 
the  land  was  flooded  with  literature  of  a  similar  character. 
This  extreme  hostility  to  the  church  because  of  its  attitude 
to  slavery,  was  never  shared  by  Mr.  Lincoln;  but  his  protest 
against  the  attitude  of  the  church  toward  slavery  was  effect- 
ively though  silently  registered  in  the  profoundly  significant 
absence  of  his  name  from  the  roll  of  church  communicants. 

It  was  characteristic  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  remain  silent  rel- 
ative to  these  matters,  but  there  came  a  time  when  his  long- 
suppressed  feelings  found  expression  in  a  manner  which  could 
not  be  misunderstood.  He  had  long  and  patiently  fought 
against  the  cohorts  of  slavery  without  one  word  of  com- 
plaint because  many  church  people  were  arrayed  against  him, 
but  when  he  first  learned  that  of  the  twenty-three  pastors  of 
his  home  city,  only  three  were  supporting  him  as  a  candidate 
for  President,  he  was  filled  with  amazement  and  grief,  which 
found  expression  in  language  more  vehement  than  he  is  known 
to  have  employed  at  any  other  time,  and  in  actions  more 
expressive  of  agitation  than  were  exhibited  by  him  upon  any 
other  occasion  during  his  life.  This  was  at  the  historic  Bate- 
man  interview,  a  full  account  of  which  appears  elsewhere  in 
this  work.  During  that  interview,  as  Dr.  Holland  tells  us, 
Mr.  Lincoln  "arose  and  walked  up  and  down  the  room  in 
the  effort  to  retain  or  regain  his  self-possession,"  and  when 
he  spoke  it  was  "with  a  trembling  voice  and  cheeks  wet  with 
tears."  "Here,"  said  he,  "are  twenty-three  ministers  of  dif- 
ferent denominations  and  all  of  them  are  against  me  but  three, 
and  here  are  a  great  many  prominent  members  of  the  churches, 
a  very  large  majority  of  whom  are  against  me.  .  .  .  These 
men  well  know  that  I  am  for  freedom  .  .  .  and  that  my 


436    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

opponents  are  for  slavery  .  .  .  and  yet  with  this  Book 
(the  New  Testament)  in  their  hands  in  the  light  of  which 
human  bondage  cannot  live  a  moment,  they  are  going  to  vote 
against  me.  I  do  not  understand  it  at  all."  75 

Dr.  Holland  adds:  "Everything  he  said  was  of  a  pecu- 
liarly deep,  tender  and  religious  tone  and  all  was  tinged  with 
a  touching  melancholy."76 

Mr.  Lincoln's  great  agitation  during  this  interview  was  a 
revelation  to  Dr.  Bateman.  He  had  never  before  seen  him 
so  disturbed  and  grieved.  He  was  usually  calm  and  serene 
and  never  was  he  so  manifestly  perturbed  as  upon  this  occa- 
sion. It  was  late  in  October,  1860,  only  a  few  days  before 
his  first  election  as  President,  and  the  outlook  at  that  time 
was  assuring.  The  "October  States,"  as  they  were  then  called, 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio  and  others — had  held  elections  for  state 
officers  giving  large  republican  majorities  which  indicated  that 
Mr.  Lincoln's  selection  in  November  was  certain.  There  was, 
therefore,  every  reason  for  his  being  in  a  state  of  exhilara- 
tion concerning  his  own  aspirations  and  prospects,  and  the 
success  of  the  cause  he  was  seeking  to  promote.  He  was 
not  in  the  least  disturbed  by  the  knowledge  that  some  of  his 
neighbors,  though  devoted  personal  friends,  were*  adherents 
of  the  opposing  party  and  would  therefore  vote  against  him. 
But  the  opposition  of  the  church,  as  represented  by  its  pastors 
and  leading  members,  was  unspeakably  painful  and  disturbing 
to  him.  As  far  as  known  he  had  never  before  expressed  or 
intimated  a  thought  that  he  had  a  special  and  valid  claim 
upon  the  support  of  church  people.  As  a  Whig  he  stood  for 
issues  which  had  no  moral  or  religious  features,  but  when 
the  slavery  question  became  a  political  issue  he  believed  the 
Christian  people  as  a  unit  should  be  on  the  side  of  freedom. 
As  Dr.  Holland  says:  "Of  one  thing  Mr.  Lincoln  felt  sure 
that  in  the  great  struggle  before  him  he  ought  to  be  supported 
by  the  Christian  sentiment  and  the  Christian  influence  of 
the  nation.  Nothing  pained  him  more  than  the  thought  that 
75  Holland's  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  237.  ™  Ibid.,  p.  238. 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        437 

a  man  professing  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  especially 
a  man  who  taught  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  should  be 
opposed  to  him.  He  felt  that  every  religious  man — every 
man  who  believed  in  God,  in  the  principles  of  everlasting 
justice,  in  truth  and  righteousness — should  be  opposed  to 
slavery,  and  should  support  and  assist  him  in  the  struggle 
against  inhumanity  and  oppression  which  he  felt  to  be  immi- 
nent. It  was  to  him  a  great  mystery  how  those  who  preached 
the  gospel  to  the  poor,  and  who,  by  their  divine  Master,  were 
sent  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to  the 
captives  and  to  set  at  liberty  those  that  were  bruised,  could  be 
his  opponents,  and  enemies."  " 

Nor  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  agitation  at  the  Bateman  interview 
when  he  learned  that  the  recognized  representatives  of  the 
church  were  against  him,  caused  by  any  feelings  of  wounded 
personal  pride,  but  by  the  disappointment  of  his  confident 
expectations  respecting  the  fidelity  of  Christian  people  to  their 
sacred  trust.  So  exalted  were  his  conceptions  of  the  char- 
acter and  mission  of  the  church  that  when  he  found  it  in 
what  he  regarded  as  manifest  apostasy,  his  heart  was  sorely 
troubled.  He  loved  the  church  as  God's  agency  in  the  world  to 
safeguard  human  rights  and  to  promote  human  welfare,  and 
his  soul  cried  out  in  anguish  in  view  of  its  unfaithfulness. 

To  this  was  added  his  painful  apprehension  that  the  pro- 
slavery  attitude  of  pastors  and  their  people  would  bring  upon 
the  nation  the  swift  and  severe  judgments  of  the  Almighty. 
It  was  this  apprehension  which  wrung  from  his  aching  heart 
the  prophetic  exclamation,  "Now  the  cup  of  iniquity  is  full 
and  the  vials  of  wrath  will  be  poured  out." 

That  conditions  in  the  church  at  that  crisis  period  were 
such  as  to  cause  Mr.  Lincoln  bitter  disappointment  and  grief, 
must  be  to  every  follower  of  Christ  an  occasion  for  humilia- 
tion and  regret.  And  in  the  scenes  connected  with  the  Bate- 
man interview,  and  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  name 
from  the  enrollment  of  the  members  of  the  church,  is  a  very 
77  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  pp.  235-236. 


438    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

solemn  admonition  to  the  church  ever  and  boldly  to  maintain 
its  divinely  appointed  attitude  to  the  cause  of  righteousness 
among  the  children  of  men.  How  many  Christian  people  of 
great  worth  have  been  kept  out  of  the  church  by  the  unfaith- 
fulness of  God's  people  to  questions  and  movements  of  moral 
and  civic  reform ! 

However,  after  the  first  assault  upon  the  flag  at  Fort  Sum- 
'  ter  there  was  no  longer  occasion  for  humiliation  on  account  of 
the  condition  and  attitude  of  the  church  in  the  loyal  states. 
Treason  unmasked  slavery  and  revealed  it  in  its  true  char- 
acter, and  the  antislavery  membership  of  the  churches  in  the 
North  at  once  rose  to  dominance,  and  pro-slavery  influences 
disappeared.  Enthusiastic  religious  patriotism  characterized 
all  the  services  of  the  church,  and  from  pulpit  and  pew  brave 
Christian  men  promptly  responded  to  the  call  for  troops. 

Slavery  and  rebellion  at  once  became  identical  in  public 
thought  and  the  church  responded  magnificently  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  occasion.  Many  times  during  his  administration 
President  Lincoln  expressed  his  appreciation  of  the  church 
and  his  gratification  at  the  services  it  rendered  the  govern- 
ment. 

The  convictions,  however,  expressed  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  Dr. 
Bateman  concerning  the  rightful  attitude  of  Christianity  and 
of  Christian  people  to  questions  of  practical  morality  and 
righteousness  were  never  by  him  either  retracted  or  in  the 
least  degree  modified.  On  May  3Oth,  1864,  in  a  letter  to 
Senator  James  R.  Doolittle  and  others,  Mr.  Lincoln  expressed 
himself  upon  this  subject  with  great  frankness  and  force. 
And  in  his  opinion  one  of  the  most  objectionable  features 
of  the  rebellion  was  the  claim  that  it  was  prompted  by  Chris- 
tian motives. 

On  the  3rd  of  December,  1864,  in  an  interview  with  two 
Southern  women,  he  spoke  with  unusual  severity  upon  this 
subject,  and  so  desirous  was  he  that  his  views,  as  then  ex- 
pressed, should  be  widely  known  that  with  his  own  hand  he 
carefully  prepared  an  account  of  the  incident  which  he  read 


LINCOLN'S  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE        439 

to  Noah  Brooks,  who,  at  the  President's  request,  secured  its 
publication  in  the  Washington  Chronicle  precisely  as  it  was 
written  by  Mr.  Lincoln.  It  was  entitled,  "The  President's 
Latest,  Shortest  and  Best  Speech,"  and  was  as  follows: 

"On  Thursday  of  last  week,  two  ladies  from  Tennessee 
came  before  the  President,  asking  the  release  of  their  hus- 
bands held  as  prisoners  of  war  at  Johnson's  Island.  They 
were  put  off  until  Friday,  when  they  came  again,  and  were 
again  put  off  until  Saturday.  At  each  of  the  interviews  one 
of  the  ladies  urged  that  her  husband  was  a  religious  man, 
and  on  Saturday  the  President  ordered  the  release  of  the 
prisoners,  when  he  said  to  this  lady:  'You  say  your  husband 
is  a  religious  man;  tell  him  when  you  meet  him,  that  I  say 
I  am  not  much  of  a  judge  of  religion,  but  that,  in  my  opinion, 
the  religion  that  sets  men  to  rebel  and  fight  against  their  gov- 
ernment, because,  as  they  think,  that  government  does  not 
sufficiently  help  some  men  to  eat  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of 
other  men's  faces,  is  not  the  sort  of  religion  upon  which 
people  can  get  to  heaven.'  "  78 

In  his  account  of  this  affair  Mr.  Brooks  says:  "Mr. 
Lincoln  showed  a  surprising  amount  of  gratification  over  this 
trifle  and  set  his  signature  at  the  bottom  of  the  page  of  the 
manuscript  at  my  suggestion,  in  order  to  authenticate  the 
autograph."  79 

The  account  of  the  affair  as  written  and  signed  by  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  reproduced  in  exact  facsimile  in  the  above-men- 
tioned magazine,  which  removes  all  possible  doubt  of  its 
authenticity. 

The  claim  that  slavery  and  the  Rebellion  were  sanctioned 
by  the  Christian  religion  was  referred  to  by  President  Lincoln 
in  his  second  Inaugural  Address  with  that  delicate  charity 
which  pervaded  that  sublime  production,  and  yet  in  terms 
which  make  it  impossible  to  doubt  his  severe  displeasure  at 
the  reproach  upon  Christianity  implied  in  that  claim.  The 

78  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  X.,  pp.  279-280. 

79  Scribner's  Magazine,  February,  1878,  p.  566. 


440     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ardent  affection  which  Mr.  Lincoln  had  ever  cherished  for 
the  church  was  greatly  intensified  and  strengthened  by  the 
loyal  Christian  patriotism  which  during  the  war  pervaded  the 
church,  and  of  the  religious  heroism  displayed  by  church 
people  at  the  front  and  in  all  loyal  states. 

INTENDED  TO  UNITE  WITH  THE  CHURCH 

And  during  the  latter  part  of  "his  weary  and  chastened 
life,"  he  repeatedly  expressed  his  purpose,  "at  the  first  suit- 
able opportunity,  to  make  a  profession  of  religion,"  by  uniting 
with  the  church.  The  assassin's  bullet,  however,  intervened 
and  that  purpose  was  not  carried  out,  but,  although  his  name 
was  never  entered  upon  any  roll  of  membership  of  the  visible 
church  on  earth,  who  can  doubt  that  his  name  was  recorded 
in  "the  Lamb's  Book  of  Life"? 


HORACE   GREELEY 


VI 
LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY 

A  HITHERTO   UNCOMPLETED  CHAPTER  OF  AMERICAN   HISTORY 

WHEN  I  was  a  child,  my  heart  many  times  was  deeply 
moved  by  heated  discussions  at  our  frontier  Ohio 
home  between  my  father  and  callers  who  approved 
and  attempted  to  defend  American  slavery.  I  say  "attempted 
to  defend,"  for  to  me  it  seemed  only  a  feeble  effort  upon  their 
part,  as  we  sat  by  the  crackling  fire,  for  my  father — whom  I 
adored — was  a  master  in  argument  and  he  never  was  so 
vehement  and  irresistible  as  when  denouncing  slavery.  And 
during  the  long  winter  evenings,  as  I  listened  to  those  back- 
woods debates,  the  emotions  which  swept  over  my  youthful 
soul  were  like  surging  billows  that  dash  upon  a  stormy  ocean 
beach. 

A  few  years  later,  while  I  was  only  a  lad,  for  one  silver 
dollar  I  sold  to  a  neighbor  some  choice  young  fruit  trees, 
which  it  had  required  more  than  three  years  of  care  and  labor 
to  produce.  That  silver  dollar  was  larger  in  my  eyes  than 
was  the  "big,  round  moon."  But  far  greater  than  the  joy 
and  pride  of  being  the  rightful  owner  of  such  wealth  was  my 
delight  at  being  permitted  to  invest  that  dollar  in  a  year's 
subscription  to  the  New  York  Weekly  Tribune.  And  during 
the  year  that  followed,  whenever  the  exacting  duties  of  a 
toiling  farmer  boy  would  permit,  I  feasted  mind  and  soul 
upon  the  literary  pabulum  which  filled  the  columns  of  that 
great  antislavery  oracle,  chiefly  from  the  pen  of  Horace 
Greeley,  the  most  gifted  and  influential  journalist  of  his  day. 

Thus  early  I  learned  to  revere  the  name  of  Horace  Greeley 
and  unconsciously  to  imbibe  the  spirit  with  which  he  de- 

441 


442     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

nounced  human  slavery  and  assailed  the  propagandists  of  that 
institution.  The  Tribune  was  the  Bible,  and  Horace  Greeley 
the  prophet  of  the  abolition  movement.  And  what  was  true 
of  me  was  true  of  the  multitudes  throughout  the  nation  who 
were  constant  readers  of  the  Tribune  and  who  were  becoming 
more  and  more  antagonistic  to  the  institution  of  slavery.  By 
his  matchless  force  of  intellect,  and  the  authority  of  truth,  he 
held  undisputed  sway  over  the  hosts  that  gathered  to  his 
standard.  Many  were  led  by  their  hostility  to  slavery  into 
a  spirit  and  attitude  of  hostility  to  the  Constitution,  and  the 
government  which  gave  that  institution  protection.  Only  a 
limited  number,  however,  of  the  antislavery  people  were  borne 
to  such  extremes.  Those  who  were  more  conservative,  sought 
with  diligence  for  some  method  by  which  their  disapproval 
of  slavery  could  be  made  effective  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  the  national  Constitution.  The  movements  of 
those  antislavery  forces  were  like  the  mobilizing  of  a  great 
army,  and  the  leader  of  leaders  in  those  movements  was 
Horace  Greeley.  His  masterful  editorials  in  the  Tribune 
were  like  the  bugle  blasts  from  a  great  commander  calling  the 
hosts  to  battle. 

In  their  efforts  to  obey  those  calls  to  duty  the  people 
rallied  around  divers  standards.  In  the  midst  of  political 
chaos  the  standard  of  slavery  restriction  was  lifted  up  and, 
as  by  magic,  the  republican  party  came  into  being,  standing 
upon  a  platform  of  but  one  distinctive  plank — the  prohibition 
of  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the  Federal  Territories. 

To  an  alert,  enthusiastic  lad  those  early  movements  were 
of  thrilling  interest,  and  not  less  inspiring  was  the  later  crys- 
tallization of  that  young  party  into  effective  cohesion.  In  the 
vicinity  where  my  lot  was  cast,  not  one  phase  of  this  move- 
ment escaped  my  attention;  and  in  1856  a  tall  tamarack  flag- 
pole stood  in  front  of  our  house,  holding  aloft  our  starry 
banner  to  bear  witness  to  my  interest  in  the  efforts  for  the 
election  to  the  Presidency  of  Colonel  John  C.  Fremont,  the 
gallant  young  "Path  Finder"  of  California.  The  nomination 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    443 

of  Fremont  was  very  largely  the  result  of  the  efforts  of 
Horace  Greeley,  who  never  tired  of  sounding  the  praises  of 
his  chosen  hero.  Not  less  industrious  and  effective  was  Mr. 
Greeley  in  work  which  lay  between  the  unsuccessful  Fremont 
campaign  in  1856  and  the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  in 
1860. 

It  would  be  natural  to  suppose  that  after  these  many  years 
of  heroic  struggle  to  secure  the  election  of  an  antislavery 
President,  Mr.  Greeley  would  ever  be  found  in  loyal  support 
of  the  administration,  to  the  election  of  which  he  had  been 
so  large  a  contributor.  But  the  history  of  the  administration 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  never  will  be  fully  written  until  the 
story  of  the  strange  and  unfortunate  course  pursued  by 
Horace  Greeley  toward  him  is  told  with  greater  fullness  than 
it  yet  has  been  given  to  the  world.  In  giving  that  story,  I 
wish  to  bear  witness  even  more  fully  than  yet  I  have  done, 
to  my  great  admiration  for  Horace  Greeley  and  to  my  loyalty 
to  his  leadership. 

In  the  early  stages  of  his  administration  I  was  not  partial 
to  Abraham  Lincoln.  His  nomination  as  the  republican  can- 
didate for  President  was  my  first  great  and  grievous  political 
disappointment.  My  ideal  of  an  all-around  American  states- 
man and  leader  was  the  Hon.  Salmon  P.  Chase,  the  idol  of 
the  antislavery  forces  and  Governor  of  my  native  Ohio.  The 
tremendous  personality  of  Governor  Chase,  his  heroic  pro- 
portions, his  majestic  bearing,  immense  intellectual  force,  and 
sterling  integrity  were  well  calculated  to  win  for  him  the  ad- 
miration and  loyalty  which  it  was  my  delight  to  contribute 
in  unstinted  measure.  When  I  saw  him  on  the  platform  I 
was  thrilled  by  his  magnificent  measurements,  his  wonderful 
voice  and  his  words  of  rare  wisdom;  and  knowing  as  I  did 
his  great  ability,  it  seemed  to  me  that  he  was  chosen  of  God 
to  be  the  nation's  standard-bearer.  And  I  was  heartbroken 
when  I  first  learned  that  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  whom  we  then 
knew  so  little,  had  been  chosen  as  our  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent; and  although  I  supported  Mr.  Lincoln  with  hearty  en- 


444     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

thusiasm,  making  more  than  one  hundred  speeches  for  his 
election,  I  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  his  conservative  policy 
respecting  slavery  during  the  early  months  of  his  adminis- 
tration. Therefore,  I  was  prepared  to  judge  of  the  infe- 
licities between  the  President  and  the  great  journalist  without 
partiality  for  Mr.  Lincoln  or  prejudice  against  Mr.  Greeley. 
These  infelicities  should  be  known  and  remembered  by  the 
American  people  that  better  counsels  may  prevail  during  the 
future  of  our  history. 

Why  should  there  have  been  infelicities  between  two  such 
men  as  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
Horace  Greeley,  leading  journalist  of  the  nation?  Each  had 
been  a  poor  boy  toiling  for  his  daily  bread,  and  with  meager 
advantages  for  development.  Each  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
Whig  party  when  he  came  to  man's  estate.  Each  was  a  man  of 
great  generosity  of  nature.  Each  was  constitutionally,  and  in 
sentiment,  thoroughly  opposed  to  slavery.  Each  held  the  other 
in  high  esteem.  They  had  been  associated  for  a  brief  period  in 
Congress  in  1848,  and  Mr.  Greeley  had  recorded  his  high  re- 
gard for  Mr.  Lincoln  at  that  time.  Mr.  Greeley  listened  with 
keen  attention  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  Cooper  Institute  address  on 
February  27th,  1860,  and  not  only  spoke  of  it  in  the  Tribune 
in  terms  of  highest  praise,  but  published  the  address  in  full 
for  nation-wide  distribution.  And  so  high  was  the  estimate 
Mr.  Lincoln  placed  upon  Horace  Greeley  that  early  in  his 
administration  he  declared  that  Mr.  Greeley's  earnest  support 
of  his  administration  would  be  more  helpful  than  a  hundred 
thousand  soldiers. 

Why  then  should  there  have  been  infelicity  between  these 
two  great  Americans  I  ask  again  ?  It  is  inadequate  to  a  fitting 
characterization  of  that  infelicity  simply  to  declare  it  to  have 
been  unfortunate.  It  was  more  than  unfortunate.  It  was 
wrong,  radically,  avoidably,  culpably  wrong,  and  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  not  the  perpetrator  but  the  innocent  victim  of 
that  wrong.  This  is  my  unequivocal  and  unqualified  testi- 
mony after  the  lapse  of  more  than  half  a  century,  and  this 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    445 

testimony  is  based  upon  a  thorough  familiarity  with  all  the 
facts  and  events  connected  with  the  matter. 

There  is  given  to  us  an  early  disclosure  of  the  inner  nature 
of  these  two  great  Americans.  In  1858  Mr.  Greeley,  though 
the  editor  of  the  leading  republican  paper  of  the  nation,  failed 
to  give  his  cordial  support  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  republican  can- 
didate for  the  United  States  senate  from  Illinois,  but  pre- 
ferred the  election  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  the  author  of  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  The  spirit  by  which  Mr. 
Greeley  was  actuated  is  revealed  by  the  following  letter  ad- 
dressed to  a  journalist  very  nearly  his  own  equal  in  ability 
and  in  standing: 

New  York,  July  24,  1858. 
My  Friend: 

You  have  taken  your  own  course — don't  try  to  throw  the 
blame  on  others.  You  have  repelled  Douglas,  who  might  have 
been  conciliated  and  attached  to  our  own  side,  whatever  he 
may  now  find  it  necessary  to  say,  or  do,  and  instead  of  help- 
ing us  in  other  states,  you  have  thrown  a  load  upon  us  that 
may  probably  break  us  down. 

You  know  what  was  the  almost  unanimous  desire  of  the 
republicans  of  other  states;  and  you  spurned  and  insulted 
them.  Now  go  ahead  and  fight  it  through.  You  are  in  for 
it  and  it  does  no  good  to  make  up  wry  faces.  What  I  have 
said  in  the  Tribune  since  the  fight  was  resolved  on,  has  been 
in  good  faith,  intended  to  help  you  through.  If  Lincoln 
would  fight  up  to  the  work  also,  you  might  get  through — 
if  he  apologizes  and  retreats,  he  is  lost,  and  all  others  go 
down  with  him.  His  first  Springfield  speech,  at  the  conven- 
tion, was  in  the  right  key;  his  Chicago  speech  was  bad;  and 
I  fear  the  new  Springfield  speech  is  worse.  If  he  dare  not 
stand  on  broad  republican  ground,  he  cannot  stand  at  all. 
That,  however,  is  his  business;  he  is  nowise  responsible  for 
what  I  say.  I  shall  stand  on  the  broad  anti slavery  ground, 
which  I  have  occupied  for  years.  I  cannot  change  it  to  help 
your  fight ;  and  I  should  only  damage  you  if  I  did.  You  have 


446     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

got  your  Elephant — you  would  have  him — now  shoulder  him ! 
He  is  not  so  very  heavy  after  all.  As  I  seem  to  displease 
you  equally  when  I  try  to  keep  you  out  of  troubles,  and 
when,  having  rushed  in  in  spite  of  you,  I  try  to  help  you  in 
the  struggle  you  have  unwisely  provoked,  I  must  keep  neutral, 
so  far  as  may  be  hereafter. 

Yours, 

(Signed)  HORACE  GREELEY. 
J,  Medill,  Esq.,  Chicago,  Illinois.1 

In  reading  this  letter  it  should  be  remembered  that  Mr. 
Greeley's  only  provocation  for  such  bitterness  of  spirit  and 
imperious  bearing  was  in  the  simple  fact  that  the  republicans 
of  Illinois  preferred  Abraham  Lincoln  to  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
as  their  United  States  senator. 

What  a  contrast  between  the  spirit  revealed  by  that  letter 
and  the  heart  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  disclosed  in  the  follow- 
ing portions  of  a  letter  written  by  him  in  the  very  heat  of 
that  terrific  struggle  with  Mr.  Douglas: 

Springfield,  June  1st,  1858. 

I  have  never  said  nor  thought  more,  as  to  the  inclination 
of  some  of  our  eastern  republican  friends  to  favor  Douglas, 
than  I  expressed  in  your  hearing  on  the  evening  of  the  2ist 
of  April,  at  the  State  Library  in  this  place.  I  have  believed 
— do  believe  now — that  Greeley,  for  instance,  would  be  rather 
pleased  to  see  Douglas  re-elected  over  me  or  any  other  repub- 
lican; and  yet  I  do  not  believe  it  is  so  because  of  any  secret 
arrangement  with  Douglas;  it  is  because  he  thinks  Douglas's 
superior  position,  reputation,  experience,  and  ability,  if  you 
please,  would  more  than  compensate  for  his  lack  of  a  pure 
republican  position,  and  therefore  his  re-election  do  the  gen- 
eral cause  of  republicanism  more  good  than  would  the  election 
of  any  one  of  our  better  undistinguished  pure  republicans. 
I  do  not  know  how  you  estimate  Greeley,  but  I  consider  him 

1  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  140-141. 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    447 

incapable  of  corruption  or  falsehood.  He  denies  that  he 
directly  is  taking  part  in  favor  of  Douglas,  and  I  believe  him. 
Still  his  feeling  constantly  manifests  itself  in  his  paper,  which, 
being  so  extensively  read  in  Illinois  is,  and  will  continue  to 
be,  a  drag  upon  us.2 

No  other  great  man  known  to  American  history  ever  has 
exhibited  a  spirit  so  free  from  resentment  as  is  shown  by 
this  letter  from  Abraham  Lincoln. 

It  is  probable  that  Mr.  Greeley's  hearty  support  in  1858 
would  have  resulted  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  election  at  that  time  to 
the  United  States  senate.  His  failure  to  attain  that  object 
of  his  heart's  desire  undoubtedly  resulted  in  his  subsequent 
election  to  the  Presidency.  But  that  does  not  diminish  the 
sense  of  keen  resentment  which  might  be  expected  to  fill 
his  heart  because  of  Mr.  Greeley's  disaffection  at  such  a 
time  of  need,  for  his  highest  aspiration  at  that  time  was  to 
be  chosen  to  a  seat  in  the  senate  of  the  United  States.  How- 
ever, every  utterance  of  Mr.  Lincoln  concerning  the  matter 
is  in  harmony  with  the  letter  above  quoted.  That  same  spirit 
characterized  all  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  dealings  and  relations  with 
Horace  Greeley. 

During  the  struggle  which  preceded  the  campaign  of  1860 
Mr.  Greeley's  warfare  against  slavery  and  its  defenders  was 
characterized  by  great  severity.  Slavery  was  a  great  evil,  but 
the  feeling  against  it  was  intensified  because  of  the  methods 
by  which  it  was  defended  and  made  strong  and  aggressive. 
Hence,  the  antislavery  people  were  not  disposed  to  disapprove 
of  Mr.  Greeley's  severity  when  republishing  in  the  Tribune 
an  item  which  appeared  in  a  pro-slavery  paper,  he  added: 
"Now,  if  any  one  knows  a  better  way  to  answer  the  one 
who  wrote  that  item  than  by  a  blow  over  the  head  with  the 
butt  end  of  a  musket,  we  will  stand  back  and  permit  him  to 
deal  with  this  scoundrel." 

This  language  of  the  great  antislavery  editor  was  not 

2  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  II.,  p.  362. 


448     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

more  savage  than  were  editorials  which  appeared  in  Southern 
papers  in  the  denunciation  of  abolitionists  on  account  of  their 
hostility  to  slavery.  Therefore,  the  sympathetic  readers  of 
the  Tribune  did  not  recognize  in  Mr.  Greeley's  caustic  lan- 
guage respecting  slavery  any  disclosure  of  an  imperious  or 
uncharitable  nature.  Had  the  above  letter  to  Mr.  Joseph 
Medill,  of  Chicago,  been  published  during  the  Lincoln- 
Douglas  campaign  of  1858  it  would  have  shown  the  anti- 
slavery  forces  that  in  dealing  with  friends  and  comrades,  Mr. 
Greeley  could  be  quite  as  severe  in  judgment,  and  harsh  in 
language,  as  when  writing  of  slavery  and  its  propagandists. 
But  to  the  Tribune  readers  and  to  the  antislavery  forces 
throughout  the  nation,  Mr.  Greeley  during  those  years  was 
regarded  as  the  embodiment  of  unselfish  devotion  to  the  in- 
terests of  humanity,  and  as  distinguished  for  personal 
amiability. 

His  life-story  had  been  most  skillfully  and  attractively 
told  by  James  Parton,  whose  literary  fame  rose  many  degrees 
when  this  biography  was  given  to  the  world.  Parton's  story 
of  Mr.  Greeley's  life  won  for  his  hero  the  admiration  of  the 
American  people,  and  contributed  very  largely  to  the  influence 
of  the  Tribune  in  molding  public  sentiment  throughout  the 
free  states  of  the  nation. 

Mr.  Greeley,  in  the  Tribune,  had  successfully  championed 
the  cause  of  struggling  humanity.  Nailing  to  its  masthead 
the  motto,  "Land  for  the  Landless,"  he  aided  in  larger 
measure  than  did  any  other  American  in  the  passage  of  the 
"Homestead  Law."  And  his  clarion  call,  "Go  west,  young 
man,  and  grow  up  with  the  country,"  helped  as  did  no  other 
effort  in  making  that  Homestead  Law  effective,  by  peopling 
the  frontier  portions  of  the  nation  with  a  class  of  enterprising, 
intelligent,  thoroughly  American  men  and  women. 

Because  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  Mr.  Greeley  was 
held  it  was  generally  believed  that  his  opposition  to  the  nomi- 
nation of  Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  in  1860,  as  the  repub- 
lican candidate  for  President,  was  wholly  attributable  to  his 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    449 

conviction  that  the  great  New  York  senator,  though  the 
favorite  of  the  antislavery  people,  would  not  be  able  to  poll 
as  large  a  vote  as  would  a  more  conservative  candidate.  I 
was  very  industrious  in  the  political  activities  of  those  times 
and  very  attentive  to  all  manifestations  of  popular  opinions 
and  tendencies.  And  as  far  as  I  could  learn  there  was  no 
manifest  public  suspicion  that  Mr.  Greeley,  in  his  opposition 
to  Mr.  Seward,  was  in  any  degree  influenced  by  personal 
animosity.  It  was,  however,  generally  understood  by  the 
masses  that  during  all  of  Mr.  Seward's  official  life  as  governor 
of  New  York,  and  as  senator,  he  was  in  closest  personal  fel- 
lowship with  Horace  Greeley;  consequently,  Mr.  Greeley's 
declaration  in  the  Tribune  to  the  effect  that  the  nomination 
of  Mr.  Seward  would  be  unwise  and  probably  result  in  defeat 
at  the  polls  had  great  weight  with  the  people.  Because  of 
his  opposition  to  Seward,  Mr.  Greeley  himself  failed  to  be 
elected  a  delegate  from  New  York  to  the  Chicago  convention ; 
but  by  some  means  he  succeeded  in  securing  a  seat  in  the 
convention  as  a  delegate  from  Oregon,  and  was  throughout 
the  convention  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  prevent  the  nomi- 
nation of  Mr.  Seward.  His  championship  of  the  candidacy 
of  Edward  Bates  of  Missouri  was  not  because  of  any  special 
preference  for  Mr.  Bates,  but  because  of  his  conviction  that 
in  supporting  the  Missouri  candidate  he  could  most  effectively 
defeat  Seward. 

Great  was  the  manifestation  of  delight  on  the  expressive 
face  of  Horace  Greeley  when  Seward  was  defeated.  The 
part  taken  by  Mr.  Greeley  in  this  contest  caused  great  bitter- 
ness against  the  Tribune  and  its  editor,  and  gave  rise  to  the 
insinuation  that  he  was  influenced  by  personal  considerations. 

I  first  learned  of  this  charge  through  Mr.  Greeley's  in- 
dignant demand  in  the  Tribune  that  the  letter  he  was  accused 
of  writing  Seward  should  be  furnished  him  for  publication 
in  his  paper.  "Not  a  copy  of  the  letter,  but  the  original, 
identical  letter  which  I  am  accused  of  writing  is  demanded. 
Nothing  else  will  be  accepted  but  the  original  letter,  which,  if 


450     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

received,  will  be  published  in  full  that  the  readers  of  the 
Tribune  may  be  afforded  the  opportunity  to  judge  for  them- 
selves respecting  the  charges  that  have  been  made."  This 
was  substantially  the  editorial  which  I  read  with  interest  and 
amazement.  With  bated  breath  the  antislavery  forces  awaited 
the  result.  And  they  had  not  long  to  wait,  for  soon  there 
appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  Tribune,  the  full  text  of  the 
Greeley  letter  to  Seward,  written  some  two  years  previous, 
and  starting  out  with  the  declaration,  as  I  now  remember, 
that  on  a  designated  date  "the  firm  known  as  Seward,  Weed 
and  Greeley  would  be  dissolved  by  the  withdrawal  of  the 
junior  member  of  the  firm."  The  date  designated  in  the  letter 
as  the  one  on  which  the  firm  would  be  dissolved  was  the  date 
upon  which  Mr.  Seward  was  expected  to  be  re-elected  to  the 
senate  of  the  United  States,  of  which  he  was,  at  the  time, 
a  distinguished  member.  Thus  Mr.  Greeley  announced  his 
purpose  to  contribute  to  the  re-election  of  Mr.  Seward,  and 
that  after  that  event  his  support  of  Seward  would  be  dis- 
continued. The  reasons  assigned  in  this  letter  for  the  course 
Mr.  Greeley  had  decided  to  pursue  were  such  as  to  fill  the 
antislavery  people  throughout  the  nation  with  unspeakable 
regret  because  of  the  disclosure  alike  of  the  selfish  motives 
by  which  Mr.  Greeley  was  influenced,  and  the  dictatorial  and 
censorious  spirit  which  he  was  not  suppossed  to  possess. 

This  reference  to  the  Seward-Greeley  episode  is  here  made 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  infelicitous  spirit  by  which 
Mr.  Greeley  was  dominated.  The  same  spirit,  with  even  more 
objectionable  features,  was  exhibited  in  all  his  relations  with 
President  Lincoln.  This  began  immediately  after  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's nomination  at  Chicago.  During  the  campaign  which 
resulted  in  his  nomination  there  was  great  strife  and  more 
or  less  of  bitterness.  The  delegates  to  that  convention  were 
confident  of  the  election  of  the  candidate  whom  they  should 
name,  if  their  choice  proved  to  be  fortunate.  There  was, 
therefore,  a  great  prize  for  which  the  contending  forces  were 
struggling.  But,  when,  upon  the  third  ballot,  Mr.  Lincoln 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    451 

received  an  overwhelming  majority  and  was  finally  declared 
the  nominee  by  a  unanimous  vote,  all  strife  and  contention 
instantly  ceased,  and  all  joined  in  words  of  congratulation 
and  encouragement. 

But  Horace  Greeley  could  not  keep  step  with  his  comrades 
in  this  movement  for  harmony,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
he  announced  in  the  Tribune  his  acceptance  of  the  result 
of  the  convention,  and  his  purpose  to  labor  for  the  success 
of  the  ticket  which  had  been  nominated.  In  an  editorial 
making  the  above  statement  he  said  of  the  nominee  for  Presi- 
dent: "While  others  are  snowing  him  white  with  letters  of 
congratulation,  I  must  express  my  conviction  that  the  nomi- 
nation of  Edward  Bates  would  have  been  more  fortunate." 
There  was  probably  then  living  no  other  great  public  man 
who  would  have  inserted  that  needless  sting  into  that  assur- 
ance of  support.  But  Mr.  Lincoln  had  not  been  his  first 
choice  and,  therefore,  he  could  not  refrain  from  the  above 
statement,  which  could  have  no  other  possible  influence  than 
to  weaken  the  whole  movement  for  the  triumph  of  the  repub- 
lican cause. 

It  is  no  disparagement  of  the  faithfulness  and  efficiency 
of  others  to  regard  Mr.  Greeley  as  by  far  the  largest  con- 
tributor to  the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  in  1860.  The 
Tribune,  of  which  he  was  the  editor  and  the  dominating  spirit, 
had  a  nation-wide  circulation,  and  in  all  the  Northern  states 
it  was  the  most  potent  influence  in  favor  of  the  republican 
party.  And  through  this  medium,  and  otherwise,  Mr.  Gree- 
ley wrought  with  all  his  heart  and  soul  for  republican  suc- 
cess. After  the  above  disparaging  missive  not  one  discordant 
note  was  sounded  by  the  Tribune,  or  its  editor,  until  in 
November  it  bore  to  its  readers  the  welcome  tidings  of  tri- 
umph at  the  polls. 

But  when  the  victory  was  won  the  master-spirit  of  the 
movement,  Horace  Greeley,  seemed  immediately  to  become  a 
victim  of  the  complex  and  conflicting  influences  of  his  own 
eccentric  nature.  Even  while  the  joyful  shouts  of  victory 


452     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

were  ringing  in  his  ears  and  his  own  praises  were  being  sung 
by  the  glad  multitudes,  Mr.  Greeley  seemed  to  lose  all  the 
courage  which  had  characterized  his  heroic  struggles  for 
human  rights  and  welfare,  and  to  be  eager  to  surrender  the 
fruit  of  triumph  it  had  cost  so  dearly  to  achieve.  Only  three 
days  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  election  Greeley  published  an  edi- 
torial in  the  Tribune  in  which  he  said:  "If  the  Cotton  States 
shall  become  satisfied  that  they  can  do  better  out  of  the 
Union  than  in  it,  we  insist  on  letting  them  go  in  peace.  .  .  . 
The  right  to  secede  may  be  a  revolutionary  one,  but  it  exists, 
nevertheless.  We  must  ever  resist  the  right  of  any  State 
to  remain  in  the  Union  and  nullify  or  defy  the  laws  thereof. 
To  withdraw  from  the  Union  is  quite  another  matter,  and 
whenever  a  considerable  section  of  our  Union  shall  deliber- 
ately resolve  to  get  out  we  shall  resist  all  coercive  measures 
designed  to  keep  it  in.  We  hope  never  to  live  in  a  republic 
whereof  one  section  is  pinned  to  another  by  bayonets."  3 

As  early  as  November  3Oth,  1860,  less  than  a  month  after 
the  Presidential  election,  Mr.  Greeley,  in  the  columns  of  his 
widely  circulated  and  very  influential  paper,  said:  "Webster 
and  Marshall  and  Story  have  reasoned  well;  the  Federal  flag 
represents  the  government,  not  a  mere  league ;  we  are  in  many 
respects  one  union  from  the  St.  John  to  the  Rio  Grande; 
but  the  genius  of  our  institutions  is  essentially  republican 
and  averse  to  the  employment  of  military  force  to  fasten  one 
section  of  our  federacy  to  the  other.  If  eight  states,  having 
five  millions  of  people  choose  to  separate  from  us,  they  cannot 
be  permanently  withheld  from  so  doing  by  Federal  cannon." 

These  declarations  of  Mr.  Greeley  were  in  response  to  the 
mutterings  of  dissatisfaction  and  threats  of  rebellion  in  the 
South,  and  were  adapted  to  encourage  the  belief  that  secession 
could  be  secured  without  resistance  from  the  national  govern- 
ment. And  while  Mr.  Greeley  was  thus  encouraging  the  spirit 
of  disloyalty  by  voluntarily  offering  to  give  away  all  the 
fruits  of  victory,  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  President-elect,  though  not 
8  A.  K.  McClure,  Lincoln  and  Men  of  War  Times,  p.  291. 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    453 

yet  possessing  any  official  authority,  on  the  nth  of  December, 
1860,  sent  a  letter  to  William  Kellogg,  in  which  he  said: 
"Entertain  no  proposition  for  a  compromise  in  regard  to  the 
extension  of  slavery.  The  instant  you  do  they  have  us  under 
again;  all  our  labor  is  lost,  and  sooner  or  later  must  be  done 
over.  Douglas  is  sure  to  be  again  trying  to  bring  in  his 
'Popular  Sovereignty.'  Have  none  of  it.  The  tug  has  to 
come,  and  better  now  than  later.  You  know  I  think  the 
fugitive  slave  clause  of  the  Constitution  ought  to  be  enforced 
— to  put  it  in  its  mildest  form,  ought  not  to  be  resisted."  * 

And  again,  two  days  later,  on  the  I3th  of  December,  1860, 
Mr.  Lincoln  in  a  letter  to  Hon.  E.  B.  Washburne  of  Illinois, 
said:  "Prevent  as  far  as  possible  any  of  our  friends  from 
demoralizing  themselves  and  their  cause  by  entertaining  prop- 
ositions for  compromise  of  any  sort  on  slavery  extension. 
There  is  no  possible  compromise  upon  it  but  what  puts  us 
under  again,  and  all  our  work  to  do  over  again.  Whether 
it  be  a  Missouri  line  or  Eli  Thayer's  popular  sovereignty, 
it  is  all  the  same.  Let  either  be  done,  and  immediately  fili- 
bustering and  extending  slavery  recommences.  On  that  point 
hold  firm  as  a  chain  of  steel."  5 

Four  days  after  Mr.  Lincoln  sent  this  earnest  plea  to 
Mr.  Washburne,  and  just  after  the  secession  of  South  Caro- 
lina, Mr.  Greeley  in  a  leading  editorial  of  the  Tribune,  in 
December,  1860,  in  speaking  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, said:  "If  it  justified  the  secession  from  the  British 
Empire  of  three  million  of  colonists  in  1776,  we  do  not  see 
why  it  would  not  justify  the  secession  of  five  million  of  South- 
erners from  the  Federal  Union  in  1861.  .  .  .  If  seven  or 
'eight  contiguous  states  should  present  themselves  at  Washing- 
ton, saying:  'We  hate  the  Federal  Union:  we  have  withdrawn 
from  it;  we  give  you  the  choice  between  acquiescing  in  our 
secession  and  arranging  amicably  all  incidental  questions  on 
the  one  hand,  and  attempting  to  subdue  us  on  the  other,'  we 

4  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  77. 

5  Ibid.,  p.  78. 


454    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

would  not  stand  up  for  coercion,  for  subjugation,  for  we  do 
not  think  it  would  be  just.  We  hold  to  the  right  of  self- 
government  even  when  invoked  in  behalf  of  those  who  deny  it 
to  others." 

At  no  time  in  his  life  did  Mr.  Lincoln  appear  so  wise  and 
far-seeing,  or  so  resourceful,  as  during  that  memorable  period 
of  four  months  between  his  election  in  November,  1860,  and 
his  inauguration  on  March  4th,  1861.  All  the  resources  of  the 
national  government  were  being  employed  to  strengthen  the 
disloyal  element  in  the  South  which  was  threatening  rebel- 
lion. While  President  Buchanan  was  not  consenting  to  the 
acts  of  some  of  the  members  of  his  Cabinet,  he  was  too  weak 
and  timid  to  exercise  any  influence  in  preventing  them,  or  in 
safeguarding  the  interests  of  the  nation. 

Far  away  in  his  Springfield  home,  Mr.  Lincoln  could  see 
the  storm  gathering  to  wreck  the  ship  of  state  with  no  au- 
thority or  power  to  control  the  hostile  influences.  And  to 
make  more  difficult  his  task,  the  President-elect  was  constantly 
besieged  by  letters,  newspaper  articles  and  personal  interviews 
to  take  some  action  with  a  view  of  averting  civil  war.  To 
do  so  would  in  his  judgment  be  unwise  and  harmful.  It  was 
claimed  by  some  that  a  statement  of  his  purposes  would  allay 
the  apprehensions  of  the  South  and  prevent  war.  But  Mr. 
Lincoln  knew  that  he  repeatedly  had  declared  his  purposes 
with  greatest  possible  fullness  and  clearness,  and  that  any  ad- 
ditional declaration  at  that  crisis  period  would  be  regarded  as 
an  exhibition  of  timidity  and  would  encourage  rather  than 
prevent  the  disloyal  activities  in  the  South.  Many  of  the 
ablest  men  of  the  nation  were  engaged  in  what  was  desig- 
nated as  the  peace  movements,  all  of  which  were  in  the  interest 
of  secession.6 

6  Four  years  later,  in  his  second  inaugural,  Mr.  Lincoln  referring  to 
these  conditions  said :  "While  the  inaugural  address  was  being  delivered 
from  this  place,  devoted  altogether  to  saving  the  Union  without  war,  in- 
surgent agents  were  in  the  city  seeking  to  destroy  it  without  war — seeking 
to  dissolve  the  Union  and  divide  the  efforts  by  negotiation."  Complete 
Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  XL,  pp.  44-45. 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    455 

At  this  time  of  unspeakable  peril,  and  of  great  perplexity, 
Mr.  Lincoln's  efforts  to  save  the  nation  were  being  hindered 
and  made  ineffective  by  the  damaging  vagaries  about  peaceable 
secession  in  which  Mr.  Greeley,  in  the  Tribune,  was  constantly 
indulging.  So  harmful  had  these  missives  of  Mr.  Greeley 
become  that  Mr.  Lincoln  sent  him  a  confidential  word  of  cau- 
tion which  caused  Mr.  Greeley  to  express  his  opinion  that 
"a  state  could  no  more  secede  at  pleasure  from  the  Union  than 
a  stave  could  secede  from  a  cask."  But  so  distorted  was  Mr. 
Greeley's  mental  vision,  that  after  this  very  forceful  decla- 
ration he  said:  "If  eight  or  ten  contiguous  states  sought  to 
leave,  he  should  say,  'there's  the  door — go !'  But,  if  the  seced- 
ing state  or  states  go  to  fighting  and  defying  the  laws,  the 
Union  being  yet  undissolved  save  by  their  own  say-so,  I  guess 
they  will  have  to  be  made  to  behave  themselves.  ...  I  fear 
nothing,  care  for  nothing,  but  another  disgraceful  backdown 
of  the  free  states.  That  is  the  only  real  danger.  Let  the 
Union  slide — it  may  be  reconstructed ;  let  Presidents  be  assas- 
sinated, we  can  elect  more;  let  the  republicans  be  defeated  and 
crushed,  we  shall  rise  again.  But  another  nasty  compromise, 
whereby  everything  is  conceded  and  nothing  secured,  will  so 
thoroughly  disgrace  and  humiliate  us  that  we  can  never 
again  raise  our  heads,  and  this  country  becomes  a  second 
edition  of  the  Barbary  States,  as  they  were  sixty  years  ago. 
Take  any  form  but  that.'  "  7 

This  declaration  of  Mr.  Greeley  was  in  a  private  letter  to 
Mr.  Lincoln,  dated  December  22nd,  1860.  Fortunately  for 
the  Union  cause  it  was  not  published  at  the  time,  but  it  was 
to  Mr.  Lincoln  a  disclosure  of  the  influences  against  which  he 
would  be  compelled  to  contend  in  his  efforts  to  save  the  Union. 

Several  weeks  after  this  interchange  of  messages  between 
Horace  Greeley  and  the  President-elect  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  his 
prospective  Secretary  of  State,  Hon.  Wm.  H.  Seward,  on 
February  ist,  1861,  as  follows:  "I  am  for  no  compromise 
which  assists  or  permits  the  extension  of  the  institution  on  soil 
7  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  III.,  p.  258. 


456     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

owned  by  the  nation.  And  any  trick  by  which  the  nation  is 
to  acquire  territory,  and  then  allow  some  local  authority  to 
spread  slavery  over  it,  is  as  obnoxious  as  any  other.  I  take 
it  that  to  effect  some  such  result  as  this,  and  to  put  us  again 
on  the  high  road  to  a  slave  empire,  is  the  object  of  all  these 
proposed  compromises.  I  am  against  it."  8 

Col.  A.  K.  McClure,  who  was  probably  as  close  to  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  as  was  any  man  not  in  official  life,  with  the 
exception  of  Noah  Brooks,  in  his  excellent  work,  "Lincoln 
and  Men  of  War  Times,"  pp.  291-292,  says  of  Mr.  Greeley: 
"Less  than  two  weeks  before  the  inauguration  of  Lincoln,  on 
the  23rd  of  February,  1861,  and  the  same  day  on  which  his 
paper  announced  Lincoln's  midnight  journey  from  Harrisburg 
to  Washington,  Greeley  said  in  a  leading  editorial:  'We  have 
repeatedly  said,  and  we  once  more  insist,  that  the  great  prin- 
ciple embodied  by  Jefferson  in  the  Declaration  of  American 
Independence,  that  governments  derive  their  just  powers  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed,  is  sound  and  just,  and  that  if  the 
slave  states,  the  Cotton  States,  or  the  Gulf  states  only  choose 
to  form  an  independent  nation,  they  have  a  clear  moral  right 
to  do  so.  Whenever  it  shall  be  clear  that  the  great  body  of 
Southern  people  have  become  conclusively  alienated  from  the 
Union  and  anxious  to  escape  from  it,  we  will  do  our  best  to 
forward  their  views.' ' 

On  pages  294-295  of  the  same  work,  Colonel  McClure 
further  says  of  Mr.  Greeley:  "He  was  never  without  some  dis- 
turbing issue  with  Lincoln  and  the  policy  of  the  administration. 
..  .  .  He  fretted  Lincoln  more  than  any  other  one  man  in  the 
United  States,  because  he  had  greater  ability  and  greater  power 
than  any  whose  criticisms  could  reach  either  Lincoln  or  the 
public." 

Mr.  Greeley  continued  his  harmful  championship  of  peace- 
able separation  in  preference  to  what  was  termed  "coercion" 
until  the  Confederate  guns  were  opened  upon  Fort  Sumter. 
The  roar  of  the  artillery  seems  to  have  awakened  and  aroused 
8  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  102. 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    457 

the  old-time  spirit  of  heroism  by  which  Mr.  Greeley  had  been 
actuated  during  the  years  of  his  warfare  against  slavery.  Ac- 
cording to  his  statement  above  quoted  that  the  seceders  "must 
be  made  to  behave  themselves,"  Mr.  Greeley  immediately,  when 
the  flag  was  fired  upon,  declared  in  favor  of  the  most  vigorous 
prosecution  of  the  war.  "The  Nation's  War  Cry,"  was  the 
caption  of  a  Tribune  editorial,  printed  in  bold  capitals  and 
kept  as  standing  matter  in  that  paper.  In  that  editorial  Mr. 
Greeley  said :  "Forward  to  Richmond !  Forward  to  Richmond ! 
The  Rebel  Congress  must  not  be  allowed  to  meet  there  on  the 
2Oth  of  July.  By  that  date  the  place  must  be  held  by  the 
national  army !" 

The  loyal  people  throughout  the  nation  were  thrilled  by 
the  daily  declarations  of  the  Tribune  in  favor  of  heroic  action. 
So  effective  were  these  appeals  of  Mr.  Greeley  in  the  Tribune 
that  public  sentiment  soon  arose  to  fever-heat  and  the  people 
clamored  for  opportunities  to  resist,  by  force  of  arms,  those 
who  were  seeking  the  overthrow  of  the  government. 

When  the  Confederate  forces  were  being  marshalled  at 
points  adjacent  to  the  national  Capital,  Mr.  Lincoln  called  a 
council  of  his  Cabinet  with  General  Scott,  who  at  that  time 
was  in  command  of  the  Union  forces.  In  this  council  Gen- 
eral Scott  stated  that  the  government  was  not  in  condition 
to  make  a  successful  advance  upon  the  enemy,  and  earnestly 
recommended  that  no  efforts  in  that  direction  be  undertaken 
until  the  coming  autumn.  To  this  proposition  Mr.  Lincoln 
and  each  member  of  his  Cabinet  promptly  replied  that  "the 
condition  of  public  sentiment  would  not  permit  such  a  delay." 
That  condition  of  public  sentiment  was  very  largely  the  prod- 
uct of  the  Tribune's  impatient,  and  at  times  denunciatory 
insistence  upon  an  immediate  advance.  Under  this  compul- 
sion of  public  sentiment  thus  inflamed,  the  advance  upon 
Manassas  was  undertaken  and  the  disastrous  battle  of  Bull 
Run  was  the  result  Those  were  gloomy  days  for  the  loyal 
people  of  this  nation.  Better  a  thousand  times  that  Mr.  Lin- 
coln should  have  been  left  to  make  the  full  and  perfect  prep- 


458     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

aration  which  he  deemed  necessary  before  proceeding  against 
an  enemy  so  thoroughly  equipped  and  prepared  for  action. 
But  the  well-meant  clamor  of  the  people,  led  by  the  Tribune, 
compelled  that  premature  advance  with  its  deplorable  results. 

It  is  amusing  to  remember  the  Tribune's  instant  change  of 
front.  No  longer  did  its  columns  teem  with  passionate  de- 
mands for  immediate  advance  upon  the  enemy.  I  can  recall, 
as  vividly  as  if  it  occurred  yesterday,  the  subdued  and  softened 
tpnes  of  the  Tribune,  which  followed  the  disastrous  Bull  Run 
battle.  Mr.  Greeley  assured  his  readers  that  it  was  not  his 
purpose  to  interfere  to  any  degree,  or  in  any  manner,  with 
the  action  of  the  general  government.  Those  in  authority, 
he  declared,  were  better  informed  than  were  others  concerning 
conditions  and  should  be  left  without  interference  by  the 
people,  to  decide  when  and  where  and  how  to  make  an  attack 
against  the  enemy. 

That  was  wise  counsel,  but,  unfortunately,  it  was  late  in 
being  given.  And  then  followed  other  disasters,  and  while  the 
President,  with  sleepless,  tireless  energy,  was  seeking  to  save 
the  nation;  and  while  the  people  throughout  the  loyal  states 
were  kneeling  before  God  in  earnest  supplications  for  the  great 
and  good  Chieftain  who,  at  this  hour  of  grief  and  danger, 
sorely  needed  words  of  counsel  and  encouragement,  Horace 
Greeley  from  his  citadel  in  New  York,  hurled  into  the  White 
House  and  into  the  heart  of  the  President,  the  following  cruel 
javelins: 

New  York,  Monday,  July  29,  1861.    Midnight. 
Dear  Sir: 

This  is  my  seventh  sleepless  night — yours,  too,  doubtless — 
yet  I  think  I  shall  not  die,  because  I  have  no  right  to  die.  I 
must  struggle  to  live,  however  bitterly.  But  to  business.  You 
are  not  considered  a  great  man,  and  I  am  a  hopelessly  broken 
one.  You  are  now  undergoing  a  terrible  ordeal,  and  God  has 
thrown  the  gravest  responsibilities  upon  you.  Do  not  fear 
to  meet  them.  ...  If  the  Union  is  irrevocably  gone,  an  ar- 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    459 

mistice  for  thirty,  sixty,  ninety,  one  hundred  and  twenty  days 
— better  still  a  year — ought  at  once  to  be  proposed,  with  a  view 
to  a  peaceful  adjustment.  Then  Congress  should  call  a  na- 
tional convention,  to  meet  at  the  earliest  possible  day.  And 
there  should  be  an  immediate  and  mutual  exchange  or  release 
of  prisoners  and  a  disbandment  of  forces.  I  do  not  consider 
myself  at  present  a  judge  of  anything  but  the  public  senti- 
ment. That  seems  to  be  everywhere  gathering  and  deepen- 
ing against  a  prosecution  of  the  war.  The  gloom  in  this  city 
is  funereal — for  our  dead  at  Bull  Run  were  many,  and  they 
lie  unburied  yet.  On  every  brow  sits  sullen,  scorching,  black 
despair. 

If  it  is  best  for  the  country  and  mankind  that  we  make 
peace  with  the  rebels  at  once  and  on  their  own  terms,  do  not 
shrink  even  from  that.  But  bear  in  mind  the  greatest  truth: 
"Whoso  would  lose  his  life  for  my  sake  shall  save  it."  Do 
the  thing  that  is  the  highest  right,  and  tell  me  how  I  am  to 
second  you. 

Yours,  in  the  depth  of  bitterness, 

HORACE  GREELEY.9 

This  harsh  and  heartless  criticism  of  President  Lincoln 
and  of  the  Government  at  Washington,  for  the  disastrous 
defeats  which  had  occurred,  caused  Mr.  Lincoln  unspeakable 
pain,  but  did  not  awaken  in  his  heart  any  feeling  of  resent- 
ment. It  was  the  more  inexcusable  because  it  was  well 
known  to  Mr.  Greeley,  that  previous  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  inaugu- 
ration, the  administration  of  the  Government  had  been  so 
conducted  by  officials  in  full  sympathy  with  the  South  as  to 
cause  him  to  be  destitute  of  men  or  money  with  which  to 
carry  on  the  war  against  men  who,  according  to  their  own 
declaration,  had  been  preparing  for  the  struggle  "for  more 
than  thirty  years."  Therefore,  the  deplorable  disasters  which 
Mr.  Greeley  mentioned  in  this  tirade  against  the  Government 
should  have  awakened  in  every  loyal  heart  deepest  sympathy 
9  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Abraham  Lincoln,  A  History,  Vol.  IV.,  pp.  365-366. 


460     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

with  those  who  at  such  great  disadvantage  were  seeking  to 
save  the  nation  from  disaster.  But  Mr.  Greeley  was  so  con- 
stituted that  he  could  only  see  that  victory  on  the  field  of 
battle  for  the  Union  cause  was  desirable,  and  because  it  was 
desirable  it  must  be  attained,  or  upon  the  authorities  of  the 
nation  his  unqualified  and  crushing  condemnation  would  fall. 

In  November,  1861,  Mr.  James  R.  Gilmore,  a  young,  enter- 
prising and  brilliant  literary  gentleman  with  ample  means, 
who  is  mentioned  on  other  pages  of  this  volume,  visited 
Horace  Greeley  at  the  request  of  the  Hon.  Robert  J.  Walker, 
for  the  purpose  of  enlisting  the  Tribune  editor  in  a  movement 
for  the  publication  of  a  magazine  devoted  wholly  to  the 
advocacy  of  emancipation.  Mr.  Greeley 's  interest  was  at 
once  awakened  by  Mr.  Gilmore's  statement  -that  Governor 
Walker  was  associated  with  him  in  the  magazine  enterprise. 
"Robert  J.  Walker!"  said  Mr.  Greeley  in  surprise.  "He  is 
the  greatest  man  we  have  had  since  Benjamin  Franklin."  It 
is  probable  that  in  this  statement  Mr.  Greeley  did  not  over- 
estimate the  great  son  of  Pennsylvania,  who,  as  senator  from 
Mississippi,  aided  Andrew  Jackson  to  crush  nullification,  and 
as  Governor  of  Kansas,  had  performed  even  a  greater  service 
to  the  nation. 

During  this  interview  Mr.  Greeley  incidentally  remarked 
that  "everything  was  going  to  the  devil,"  and  when  Mr.  Gil- 
more  asked  for  an  explanation  of  his  meaning,  he  declared: 

"For  half  a  year  we  have  had  one  continued  succession  of 
disasters — Big  Bethel,  Bull  Run,  Wilson's  Creek,  and  now 
Ball's  Bluff,  and  the  loss  of  Baker — with  nothing  to  offset 
but  a  few  insignificant  victories  in  West  Virginia — and  all 
owing  to  the  supineness  and  stupidity  of  the  people  at  Wash- 
ington. Six  months !  and  we  worse  off  than  when  we  began ! 
Why,  six  weeks  of  such  a  man  as  Jackson  would  have 
stamped  the  whole  thing  out;  and' now  it  must  go  on  till 
both  sections  are  ruined,  and  all  because  we  have  no  sense 
or  energy  in  the  Government.  It  pains,  it  grieves  me  to 
think  of  it;  for  I  feel  in  a  measure  responsible  for  it.  For 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    461 

you  know  it  is  said  that  but  for  my  action  in  the  convention, 
Lincoln  would  not  have  been  nominated.  It  was  a  mistake, 
the  biggest  mistake  of  my  life." 

The  reader  will  observe  that  in  these  statements  Mr. 
Greeley  not  only  speaks  with  harsh  severity  with  reference  to 
the  disasters  which  had  befallen  the  nation,  but  in  so  doing 
he  piles  merciless  maledictions  upon  those  who  were  charged 
with  the  duty  of  conducting  the  Government.  It  is  probable 
that  there  was  not  in  any  government  of  earth  at  that  time 
a  company  of  more  able,  experienced  statesmen  than  were 
those  constituting  Mr.  Lincoln's  Cabinet.  That  he  might  be 
surrounded  by  men  of  highest  type,  he  astonished  the  world 
by  choosing  as  his  constitutional  advisers  the  men  who  had 
been  his  chief  rivals  for  his  nomination.  It  is  not  probable 
that  any  other  man  who  ever  occupied  the  Presidential  office 
would  have  dared  to  bring  so  large  a  company  of  able  and 
experienced  rivals  into  his  official  family.  And  Mr.  Gree- 
ley's  designation  of  these  men,  as  above  stated,  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  his  hasty  and  severe  judgment  respecting  those  who 
did  not  in  all  respects  conform  to  his  wishes. 

And  following  this  disloyal  diatribe,  and  at  the  same  inter- 
view, Mr.  Greeley  expressed  to  Mr.  Gilmore  his  earnest  wish 
to  enter  into  a  close  alliance  with  President  Lincoln  by  which 
he  would  receive  for  publication  in  the  Tribune,  advance  in- 
formation respecting  the  policies  and  proposed  action  of  the 
Government.  In  return  for  this  he  engaged  to  give  the 
President,  and  his  administration,  such  cordial  and  constant 
support  as  would  be  rendered  by  an  administration  organ. 

If  it  were  not  a  matter  of  undisputable  record  it  would  be 
difficult  to  believe  that  after  the  letters  he  had  sent  to  the 
President,  as  above  stated,  and  immediately  following  his 
harangue  of  denunciation,  Mr.  Greeley  could  have  made  such 
a  proposition.  But  more  wonderful  than  this  proposition  of 
Mr.  Greeley  was  the  fact  that  when,  a  few  days  later,  the 
matter  was  mentioned  to  Mr.  Lincoln  by  Governor  Walker 
and  Mr.  Gilmore,  the  President  greeted  the  suggestion  with 


462     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

seeming  delight  and  approval.  Remembering  all  the  infelici- 
ties through  which  he  had  passed,  and  especially  the  cruel  and 
discouraging  messages  he  had  received  from  the  Tribune 
editor,  it  seems  incredible  that  a  chief  magistrate  so  extremely 
cautious  and  reticent  as  Mr.  Lincoln  was  known  to  be  could 
have  entertained  such  a  proposition  for  a  moment.  But  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  so  utterly  void  of  any  spirit  of  resentment  or  re- 
taliation, so  large-hearted  and  charitable  in  his  estimates  of 
his  associates  in  the  Union  movement,  and  so  unutterably 
anxious  to  secure  the  hearty  co-operation  of  Mr.  Greeley  and 
the  Tribune  in  the  great  struggle  he  was  in,  that  he  immedi- 
ately prepared  the  following  letter  to  Governor  Walker: 

Washington,  Nov.  21,  1861. 
Dear  Governor: 

I  have  thought  over  the  interview  which  Mr.  Gilmore 
has  had  with  Mr.  Greeley,  and  the  proposal  that  Greeley  has 
made  to  Gilmore,  namely,  that  he  (Gilmore)  should  commu- 
nicate to  him  (Greeley)  all  that  he  learns  from  you  of  the 
inner  workings  of  the  administration,  in  return  for  his  ( Gree- 
ley's)  giving  such  aid  as  he  can  to  the  new  magazine,  and 
allowing  you  (Walker)  from  time  to  time  the  use  of  his 
(Greeley's)  columns  when  it  is  desirable  to  feel  of,  or  fore- 
stall, public  opinion  on  important  subjects.  The  arrangement 
meets  my  unqualified  approval,  and  I  shall  further  it  to  the 
extent  of  my  ability,  by  opening  to  you — as  I  do  now — fully 
the  policy  of  the  Government — its  present  views  and  future 
intentions  when  forqaed — giving  you  permission  to  communi- 
cate them  to  Gilmore  for  Greeley;  and  in  case  you  go  to 
Europe  I  will  give  these  things  direct  to  Gilmore.  But  all 
this  must  be  on  the  express  and  explicit  understanding  that 
the  fact  of  these  communications  coming  from  me  shall  be 
absolutely  confidential — not  to  be  disclosed  by  Greeley  to  his 
nearest  friend,  or  any  of  his  subordinates.  He  will  be,  in 
effect,  my  mouthpiece,  but  I  shall  not  be  known  to  be  the 
speaker. 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY          463 

I  need  not  tell  you  that  I  have  the  highest  confidence  in 
Mr.  Greeley.  He  is  a  great  power.  Having  him  firmly  behind 
me  will  be  as  helpful  to  me  as  an  army  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand men.  That  he  has  ever  kicked  the  traces  has  been  owing 
to  his  not  being  fully  informed.  Tell  Gilmore  to  say  to  him 
that,  if  he  ever  objects  to  my  policy,  I  shall  be  glad  to  have 
him  state  to  me  his  views  frankly  and  fully.  I  shall  adopt 
his  if  I  can.  If  I  cannot,  I  shall  at  least  tell  him  why.  He 
and  I  should  stand  together,  and  let  no  minor  differences  come 
between  us;  for  we  both  seek  one  end,  which  is  the  saving 
of  our  country.  Now,  Governor,  this  is  a  longer  letter  than 
I  have  written  in  a  month — longer  than  I  would  have  written 
for  any  other  man  than  Horace  Greeley. 

Your  friend,  truly, 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

P.  S. — The  sooner  Gilmore  sees  Greeley  the  better,  as  you 
may  before  long  think  it  wise  to  ventilate  our  policy  on  the 
Trent  affair.10 

The  reader  scarcely  need  be  requested  to  note  the  un- 
qualified approval  which  Mr.  Lincoln  gives  to  this  Greeley 
proposition,  and  his  statement,  "I  shall  further  it  to  the  extent 
of  my  ability." 

The  existence  of  the  above  letter  is  so  little  known,  and  its 
contents  are  of  such  measureless  importance,  that  I  not  only 
publish  the  same  in  full,  but  most  earnestly  request  that  those 
who  peruse  these  pages  give  it,  in  its  entirety,  careful  consid- 
eration. It  should  not  be  overlooked  nor  forgotten,  that  the 
subject  matter  to  which  this  communication  refers  was  "the 
proposal  that  Greeley  has  made  to  Gilmore."  In  the  fertile 
brain  of  the  great  journalist  the  proposition  which  is  here  set 
forth  had  its  origin.  The  proposition  was  a  bold  and  very 
remarkable  effoft  of  Mr.  Greeley  to  secure  for  his  paper  such 
favors  from  the  administration  as  are  bestowed  only  upon 
publications  which  are  known  to  represent  the  administration. 
10  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  XL,  pp.  121-122. 


464     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Those  were  momentous  days  when  careful  efforts  were 
being  made  to  form  an  alliance  between  President  Lincoln 
and  Horace  Greeley.  The  two  principals  in  the  proposed  alli- 
ance did  not  meet  during  the  period  in  which  the  affiliation 
was  being  considered.  All  the  necessary  arrangements  were 
made  between  the  President  and  Mr.  Greeley  through  the 
agency  of  Governor  Robert  J.  Walker  and  James  R.  Gilmore. 
The  two  men  who  were  negotiating  for  the  formation  of 
that  alliance  were  the  most  potential  personalities  in  the  nation. 
The  President  by  virtue  of  his  great  office  and  his  transcen- 
dent gifts  of  leadership  was  pre-eminently  the  foremost  per- 
sonality of  the  world.  Horace  Greeley,  by  whose  suggestion 
the  forming  of  that  alliance  was  undertaken,  was  at  that  time 
the  peerless  journalist  of  the  nation. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  the  proposed  alliance  between 
President  Lincoln  and  Horace  Greeley,  though  solicited  by  the 
latter  and  favored  by  the  former,  ever  was  so  fully  consum- 
mated as  to  exert  any  restraining  influence  upon  the  Tribune 
or  its  editor.  When  Mr.  Gilmore  presented  the  above  letter 
of  the  President  to  Governor  Walker  to  Mr.  Greeley,  he  care- 
fully read  and  reread  it,  "his  face  beaming  with  simple  joy- 
ousness."  He  then  said:  "He  (Mr.  Lincoln)  is  a  wonderful 
man — wonderful !  I  never  can  harbor  a  thought  against  him 
except  when  I  keep  away  from  him.  You  must  let  me  keep 
this  letter."  When  Mr.  Gilmore  hesitated  to  grant  this  re- 
quest, Mr.  Greeley  said:  "It  shall  not  be  seen.  I  want  it  just 
to  look  at  when  I  am  downhearted.  The  approval  of  such 
a  man  is  worth  having."  Yet  Mr.  Greeley's  criticisms  and 
complaints  continued,  and  were  quite  as  unreasonable,  unkind 
and  harmful  as  they  had  been.  There  can  be  no  estimate  of 
the  advantage  to  the  country  if  the  proposed  alliance  could 
have  been  formed  and  made  effective.  It  certainly  would  have 
added  immensely  to  the  influence  of  the  Tribune  throughout 
the  nation  to  have  had  information  respecting  the  policy  and 
operations  of  the  government  in  advance  of  other  papers,  and 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    465 

would  have  caused  the  great  republican  daily  to  become  recog- 
nized as  an  administration  organ,  and  would  have  built  it  up 
into  far  greater  strength  and  influence  than  it  ever  attained. 

And  to  have  had  that  great  paper  standing  boldly  and  un- 
waveringly for  the  measures  which  the  President  sought  to 
make  effective  would  so  have  added  to  the  strength  and  effect- 
iveness of  the  government  as  to  justify  Mr.  Lincoln's  decla- 
ration in  his  letter  to  Governor  Walker  that  Mr.  Greeley's 
cordial  and  constant  support  would  be  more  helpful  than  an 
army  of  a  hundred  thousand  men. 

In  looking  back  upon  these  pregnant  events  I  am  thrilled 
with  religious  patriotism  when  I  consider  the  possibilities  of 
the  carrying  out  of  the  purposes  for  which  the  alliance  between 
the  Tribune  and  the  national  administration  was  undertaken. 
I  drank  daily  and  copiously  from  the  waters  which  flowed 
from  the  seemingly  exhaustless  fountain  in  the  Tribune  build- 
ing in  New  York  City.  I  mingled  continuously  with  the 
people  whose  thirst  was  slaked  by  the  same  refreshing 
waters.  I  heard  the  name  of  Horace  Greeley  in  conversation 
and  upon  the  platform  almost  as  frequently  as  the  name  of 
Abraham  Lincoln.  I  have  not  forgotten  that  we  accepted 
as  our  own  the  opinions  advocated  by  Greeley,  often  without 
hesitation.  His  statements  were  never  called  in  question  and 
his  public  suspicions  respecting  the  motives  of  men  in  public 
life,  and  the  probable  results  of  proposed  measures  and  move- 
ments influenced  the  judgment  of  the  people  almost  like  a 
divine  edict.  And  I  realized  then,  as  I  do  more  fully  while 
I  write  these  words,  that  the  troubled  waters  of  public  sen- 
timent during  those  fitful  seasons  of  excitement  and  de- 
pression, could  have  been  calmed  by  a  little  of  the  oil  of  loyal 
counsel  in  the  columns  of  the  Tribune.  My  eyes  are  misty, 
and  my  heart  throbs  with  more  than  patriotic  sorrow  as  I 
meditate  upon  the  possibilities  of  the  faithful  carrying  out  of 
the  covenant  between  the  Tribune  and  the  national  adminis- 
tration. All  who  are  familiar  with  the  story  of  the  Rebellion 
know  that  there  were  times,  how  many  times  need  not  be 


466     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

designated,  when  prompt  and  courageous  action  by  the  Union 
forces  would  have  brought  the  war  to  a  speedy  close.  Instead 
of  such  action  there  was  seeming  timidity  and  delay.  With 
tear-dimmed  eyes  we  read  the  story  of  those  golden  oppor- 
tunities which  came  and  went  with  the  exigencies  of  war. 
But  no  such  failure  in  the  field  resulted  in  such  serious  loss  to 
the  Union  cause  as  did  the  failure  of  the  proposed  covenant 
of  co-operation  between  President  Lincoln  and  Horace  Gree- 
ley.  There  were  times  when  the  hostility  of  Mr.  Greeley  and 
the  Tribune  to  President  Lincoln  and  his  policies  reached  a 
crisis.  Such  a  point  was  reached  when  in  the  Spring  of  1862 
the  President  courteously  but  earnestly  invited  Mr.  Greeley  to 
an  interview  in  the  White  House  and  in  a  manner  which  at 
times  of  great  emergency  he  assumed  said  to  Mr.  Greeley: 
"What  have  I  done  or  omitted  to  do  which  has  provoked  the 
hostility  of  the  Tribune?"  To  this  pointed  and  significant 
question  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  Mr.  Greeley  replied  by  declaring  that 
the  President  ought  to  issue  a  Proclamation  of  Emancipation. 
To  this  Mr.  Lincoln  replied :  "There  are  twenty  thousand  mus- 
kets on  the  shoulders  of  Kentuckians  who  are  bravely  fight- 
ing our  battles.  Every  one  of  them  will  be  thrown  down  or 
carried  over  to  the  Rebels  if  I  should  issue  such  a  proclama- 
tion." 

"Let  them  go !"  angrily  replied  Mr.  Greeley,  "the  cause  of 
the  Union  will  be  stronger  if  Kentucky  should  secede."  To 
this  Mr.  Lincoln  calmly  replied:  "Oh,  I  cannot  think  that." 

Was  there  ever  a  more  impressive  exhibition  of  the  calm 
dignity  and  great  strength  which  should  characterize  a  great 
ruler  than  this  answer  of  Abraham  Lincoln  to  the  petulant, 
irrational  declaration  of  Horace  Greeley? 

Again  and  again  I  have  read  the  account  of  this  interview 
and  have  meditated  upon  its  significance,  and  at  each  perusal 
it  reveals,  with  greater  distinctness,  the  dominant  characteris- 
tics of  these  two  great  men.  In  the  light  of  history,  Mr. 
Greeley's  declarations  are  like  the  utterances  of  a  madman, 
while  the  words  of  Lincoln  are  as  the  voice  of  a  sage. 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    467 

Another  crisis  was  reached  when  on  the  iQth  of  August, 
1862,  Mr.  Greeley  published  in  the  Tribune,  an  editorial  which 
he  had  the  assurance  to  designate  as  "The  Prayer  of  Twenty 
Million."  It  was  an  "Open  Letter"  to  the  President,  and  to 
this  day  I  have  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  tremendous  impres- 
sion which  that  editorial  made  throughout  the  country.  It 
was  a  haughty,  dictatorial  demand  that  the  President  should 
conduct  the  administration  of  the  government  according  to 
Mr.  Greeley's  interpretation  of  his  duties.  The  following  is 
a  portion  of  that  editorial: 

"On  the  face  of  this  wide  earth,  Mr.  President,  there  is  not 
one  disinterested,  determined,  intelligent  champion  of  the 
Union  cause  who  does  not  feel  that  all  attempts  to  put  down 
the  Rebellion  and  at  the  same  time  uphold  its  inciting  cause, 
are  preposterous  and  futile — that  the  Rebellion,  if  crushed  out 
tomorrow,  would  be  renewed  within  a  year  if  slavery  were 
left  in  full  vigor — that  army  officers,  who  remain  to  this  day 
devoted  to  slavery,  can  at  best  be  but  halfway  loyal  to  the 
Union — and  that  every  hour  of  deference  to  slavery  is  an 
hour  of  added  and  deepened  peril  to  the  Union.  I  appeal  to 
the  testimony  of  your  Ambassadors  in  Europe.  It  is  freely 
at  your  service,  not  mine.  Ask  them  to  tell  you  candidly 
whether  the  seeming  subserviency  of  your  policy  to  the  slave- 
holding,  slavery-upholding  interest,  is  not  the  perplexity,  the 
despair  of  statesmen  of  all  parties ;  and  be  admonished  by  the 
general  answer."  1X 

This  editorial  came  at  a  time  of  critical  conditions,  and 
with  nervous  anxiety  we  awaited  the  action  of  the  President 
in  the  matter.  Many  expected  the  strong  hand  of  the  gov- 
ernment to  be  laid  upon  the  great  daily  and  that  its  editor 
would  be  called  to  an  account  for  his  interference  with 
the  administration  at  a  time  of  great  peril.  But  if  an  angel 
from  heaven  had  come  into  our  midst,  bearing  a  message  from 

11  Horace  Greeley,  The  American  Conflict,  pp.  249-250. 


468     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  throne  of  God,  it  could  not  have  produced  a  more  pro- 
found impression  than  did  the  following  reply  of  President 
Lincoln  to  the  caustic  criticisms  of  Mr.  Greeley: 

Executive  Mansion,  Washington,  August  22,  1862. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  have  just  read  yours  of  the  iQth  addressed  to  myself 
through  the  New  York  Tribune.  If  there  be  in  it  any  state- 
ments or  assumptions  of  fact  which  I  may  know  to  be  erro- 
neous, I  do  not  now  and  here,  controvert  them.  If  there 
be  in  it  any  inferences  which  I  may  believe  to  be  falsely 
drawn,  I  do  not,  now  and  here,  argue  against  them.  If  there 
be  perceptible  in  it  an  impatient  and  dictatorial  tone,  I  waive 
it  in  deference  to  an  old  friend  whose  heart  I  have  always 
supposed  to  be  right. 

As  to  the  policy  I  "seem  to  be  pursuing,"  as  you  say,  I 
have  not  meant  to  leave  any  one  in  doubt. 

I  would  save  the  Union.  I  would  save  it  the  shortest 
way  under  the  Constitution.  The  sooner  the  national  au- 
thority can  be  restored,  the  nearer  the  Union  will  be  "the 
Union  as  it  was."  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save 
the  Union  unless  they  could  at  the  same  time  save  slavery, 
I  do  not  agree  with  them.  If  there  be  those  who  would  not 
save  the  Union  unless  they  could  at  the  same  time  destroy 
slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with  them.  My  paramount  object 
in  this  struggle  is  to  save  the  Union,  and  is  not  either  to  save 
or  to  destroy  slavery.  If  I  could  save  the  Union  without 
freeing  any  slave,  I  would  do  it;  and  if  I  could  save  it  by 
freeing  all  the  slaves,  I  would  do  it;  and  if  I  could  save  it 
by  freeing  some  and  leaving  others  alone,  I  would  also  do 
that.  What  I  do  about  slavery  and  the  colored  race,  I  do 
because  I  believe  it  helps  to  save  the  Union;  and  what  I  for- 
bear, I  forbear  because  I  do  not  believe  it  would  help  to  save 
the  Union.  I  shall  do  less  whenever  I  shall  believe  what  I 
am  doing  hurts  the  cause,  and  I  shall  do  more  whenever  I 
shall  believe  doing  more  will  help  the  cause.  I  shall  try  to 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    469 

correct  errors  when  shown  to  be  errors,  and  I  shall  adopt  new 
views  as  fast  as  they  shall  appear  to  be  true  views. 

I  have  here  stated  my  purpose  according  to  my  view  of 
official  duty;  and  I  intend  no  modification  of  my  oft- 
expressed  personal  wish  that  all  men  everywhere  could  be 
free. 

Yours, 

A.  LINCOLN." 

The  above  "Open  Letter"  to  Mr.  Greeley  was  first  pub- 
lished on  the  23rd  of  August,  1862,  in  the  National  Intelli- 
gencer of  Washington,  D.  C,  and  was  at  once  copied  in  all 
the  loyal  papers  of  the  country.  Its  immediate  results  re- 
sembled the  "great  calm  which  settled  like  a  benediction  upon 
tempestuous  Galilee  when  a  Voice  divine  rebuked  the  wind  and 
the  raging  of  the  water."  It  was  like  the  passing  of  the  crisis 
of  a  burning  fever,  when  speedy  restoration  to  health  and 
vigor  suddenly  begins.  Many  times  since  its  first  appearance 
that  "Open  Letter"  has  been  published  and  it  has  come  to  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  nearly  perfect  epistolary  produc- 
tions of  human  history. 

Mr.  Greeley  attempted  to  reply  but  his  efforts,  though 
violent,  only  revealed  his  utter  discomfiture;  and  in  his  own 
estimation  his  arguments  were  not  of  sufficient  merit  to  jus- 
tify reproduction  in  his  elaborate  history  of  "The  American 
Conflict."  But  until  the  hour  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  tragic  death 
Mr.  Greeley  seems  neither  to  have  forgiven  nor  forgotten  that 
"Open  Letter"  which  made  August  22nd,  1862,  an  epoch 
in  our  nation's  history.  He  continued  his  petulant  criticisms 
but,  peerless  journalist  as  he  believed  himself  to  be,  he  never 
again  ventured  into  the  field  of  epistolary  controversy  with 
Abraham  Lincoln. 

It  is  interesting  to  remember  that  when  President  Lin- 
coln wrote  that  letter  to  Horace  Greeley  he  already  had  pre- 
pared the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  was  anxiously 

12  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  15. 


470     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

waiting  for  more  favorable  military  results  before  giving  it 
publicity.  That  Proclamation  had  been  discussed  at  length 
by  the  Cabinet  and  was  lying  in  the  drawer  of  the  desk  on 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  that  Greeley  letter.  Just  one  month 
to  the  day  from  the  date  of  that  letter  President  Lincoln 
issued  his  preliminary  Proclamation  of  Emancipation,  which 
on  the  first  day  of  the  next  January  was  followed  by  the  final 
Proclamation. 

The  opportunity  of  his  life — such  an  opportunity  as  very 
few  men  ever  have  had — came  to  Horace  Greeley  when  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation  was  issued  by  President  Lincoln. 
Next  to  the  President,  Mr.  Greeley  was  more  responsible  than 
any  other  person  for  that  monumental  edict  of  freedom. 
Because  of  his  transcendent  ability,  his  great  influence  with 
the  people,  and  the  immense  circulation  of  the  Tribune  of 
which  he  was  editor,  Mr.  Greeley  had  been  the  largest  con- 
tributor to  the  creation  of  the  public  sentiment  which  made 
possible  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  President,  and  in  due 
time  caused  him  to  issue  that  Proclamation. 

Being  a  lifelong  abolitionist,  and  of  very  ardent  tempera- 
ment, Mr.  Greeley  from  the  beginning  of  the  war  insisted 
upon  the  destruction  of  slavery  not  only  upon  moral  grounds 
but  as  a  means  of  military  success.  His  demand  for  an  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation  was  urged  with  ceaseless  energy  and 
at  times  in  a  dictatorial  and  imperious  spirit.  It  was,  there- 
fore, peculiarly  fitting  that  when  that  Proclamation  for  which 
Mr.  Greeley  had  so  long  and  so  persistently  pleaded  was  given 
to  the  world,  he  should  be  found  among  the  most  enthusiastic 
in  supporting  that  important  measure  and  in  commending  its 
author. 

Furthermore,  Mr.  Greeley  was  under  especial  obligations 
to  rally  to  the  support  of  that  Proclamation  and  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  his  administration  because  of  the  hostility  which  the 
Proclamation  had  aroused  throughout  the  loyal  states.  A  gen- 
eral election  of  members  of  Congress  was  soon  to  be  held  in 
all  the  loyal  states,  and  it  was  a  matter  of  supreme  importance 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    471 

to  have  a  verdict  from  the  people  in  support  of  the  antislavery 
policy  adopted  by  the  administration.  The  pro-slavery  ele- 
ment in  the  loyal  states  was  by  the  Proclamation  aroused  to 
frenzied  assaults  upon  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  were  aided  in  their 
warfare  by  the  Union  people  whose  ardor  was  cooled  by  the 
adoption  of  the  Emancipation  policy.  Postmaster  General 
Montgomery  Blair,  when  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  was 
under  consideration  in  the  Cabinet,  very  emphatically  and  with 
unquestioning  confidence  assured  the  President  that  its  adop- 
tion would  cost  him  an  adverse  verdict  of  the  people  at  the 
polls  in  November.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  also  seriously  apprehen- 
sive that  such  might  be  the  case;  yet,  in  obedience  to  an  im- 
perious sense  of  duty,  he  decided  to  incur  the  risk  and  trust 
to  the  loyal  antislavery  people  to  secure  for  the  measure  pop- 
ular endorsement. 

This  condition  gave  Mr.  Greeley  the  great  opportunity  to 
which,  unfortunately,  his  measurements  were  not  adequate. 
He  gave  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  his  enthusiastic  sup- 
port and  he  manifested  a  degree  of  interest  in  the  election 
of  members  of  Congress  who  favored  emancipation,  but  his 
chief  interest  seemed  to  be  in  the  Presidential  election  to  be 
held  two  years  later,  at  which  time  he  was  determined  to 
prevent  the  re-election  of  President  Lincoln.  To  accomplish 
that  result  he  was  searching  the  entire  country  to  find  a  can- 
didate for  whom  he  could  hope  to  win  the  nomination  by  the 
national  convention  of  the  Union  party.  During  all  the  sum- 
mer and  autumn  of  1862  I  was  in  the  thick  of  the  fight  to 
secure  for  the  President,  and  for  his  administration,  such  an 
endorsement  by  the  people  at  the  polls  as  would  aid  in  the 
struggle  for  the  preservation  of  the  nation.  Well  do  I  re- 
member how  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  intensified  that 
struggle  by  arousing  to  greater  efforts  both  of  the  contending 
forces.  Nor  can  I  forget  how  seriously  the  Union  party  was 
weakened  in  that  struggle  by  Mr.  Greeley's  persistent  hostility 
to  the  President  and  his  administration.  And  half  a  century 
of  diversified  experiences  has  not  made  less  vivid  my  realiza- 


472     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

tion  of  the  depressing  gloom  that  darkened  all  the  land  when 
the  verdict  at  the  polls,  at  the  Congressional  election  in  1862, 
was  found  to  be  unfavorable  to  the  administration. 

But  in  that  darkness  a  guiding  star  appeared  as  the  people 
came  to  realize  that  the  cause  of  emancipation  was  bound  up 
in  a  bundle  of  life  with  the  great  Emancipator,  and  that  his 
re-election  was  essential  to  the  success  of  the  edict  against 
slavery  and  the  preservation  of  the  Union.  However,  while 
the  masses  were  thus  gathering  to  the  standard  of  President 
Lincoln,  Horace  Greeley  was  industriously  prosecuting  his 
quest  for  a  candidate  to  compete  with  Mr.  Lincoln  for  the 
Presidential  nomination. 

At  the  dawning  of  the  New  Year,  1863,  millions  of  slaves 
throughout  the  country  arose  and  shook  off  the  galling  fetters 
with  which  they  had  been  bound,  and  with  melting  melody  that 
defied  all  efforts  at  imitation,  mingled  in  song  the  name  of 
their  Divine  Deliverer  and,  to  them,  the  equally  sacred  and 
cherished  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  Emancipation 
Proclamation  was  effective  with  the  slaves  and  it  wrought  like 
leaven  among  the  loyal  masses  of  the  nation,  but  it  failed  to 
soften  the  heart  of  Horace  Greeley,  and  to  cause  him  to  feel 
more  kindly  towards  its  author. 

In  May,  1863,  the  first  year  of  freedom,  Mr.  Greeley  sent 
Mr.  James  R.  Gilmore,  who  had  become  a  member  of 
the  Tribune  editorial  staff,  to  Murfreesboro,  Tennessee,  for 
the  purpose  of  inducing  General  W.  E.  Rosecrans,  then  in 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  to  consent  to  be- 
come a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  But,  although  in  this 
he  was  unsuccessful,  he  continued  to  prosecute  his  warfare 
against  the  renomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  until  his  opposing 
voice  was  smothered  by  the  shouts  of  approval  in  the  Balti- 
more convention  that  registered  the  verdict  of  the  people  in 
favor  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  If  Mr.  Greeley  had  been  of 
dimensions  equal  to  his  opportunity  he  would  have  pursued 
the  consistent  course  for  a  great  and  good  man,  and  would 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY          473 

have  gone  into  history  as  second  to  only  one,  in  his  achieve- 
ments for  the  cause  of  human  freedom. 

And  after  that  renomination  at  Baltimore,  at  the  crisis 
of  that  campaign,  Mr.  Greeley  was  active  with  the  Wade- 
Davis  faction  in  conducting  a  most  unreasonable  warfare 
against  the  President  for  the  wise  and  proper  exercise  of  his 
rightful  executive  authority  to  veto  a  measure  which  he  did 
not  approve.  And  though,  during  all  the  Presidential  cam- 
paign, Mr.  Greeley  advocated  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
war,  we  were  constantly  confronted  by  the  claim  which  during 
preceding  years  he  so  persistently  had  presented,  that  peace 
without  dismemberment  could  be  secured  by  negotiations.  It 
was  this  claim  of  the  opposition  which  during  those  midsum- 
mer months  of  1864  caused  the  re-election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to 
appear  to  some  of  his  party  leaders,  and  even  to  himself,  as 
exceedingly  improbable.  There  never  had  come  from  the  Con- 
federate authorities  one  utterance  to  justify  the  claim  that 
any  terms  of  peace  without  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  would 
be  by  them  for  a  moment  entertained. 

Yet,  during  the  Presidential  campaign  of  1864,  those  Con- 
federate leaders  had,  with  consummate  cunning,  kept  silent 
respecting  this  matter  which  gave  the  opposition  the  oppor- 
tunity they  coveted  to  claim  that  the  time  had  come  when  the 
Union  could  be  saved  by  negotiation  without  further  "effu- 
sion of  blood."  And  during  the  preceding  years  Mr.  Greeley 
had  persisted  in  presenting  the  same  claim,  and  thus  he  had 
contributed  to  the  public  sentiment  which  made  difficult  and 
doubtful  the  triumph  of  the  Union  cause  at  the  Presidential 
election. 

It  was  characteristic  of  Mr.  Greeley's  eccentricities  that 
in  July,  1864,  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  renomination  as  a  candidate 
for  re-election,  and  before  the  national  convention  of  the  op- 
position had  been  held,  he  became  actively  interested  in  what 
is  known  as  the  Conference  of  Niagara  Falls. 

Two  Confederate  leaders,  Clay  of  Alabama  and  Thomp- 
son of  Mississippi,  had  found  their  way  to  a  point  in  Canada, 


474    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

not  far  from  Niagara  Falls,  and  at  once  opened  negotiations 
with  Mr.  Greeley.  The  unsophisticated  journalist  immediately 
saw  a  cloud  of  doves  of  peace,  each  bearing  an  olive  branch, 
and  moving  toward  our  national  capital.  Inspired  by  this 
vision,  he  sent  on  July  7th,  1864,  a  message  to  the  President, 
in  which  he  said:  "I  venture  to  remind  you  that  our  bleeding, 
bankrupt,  almost  dying  country,  longs  for  peace — shudders  at 
the  prospect  of  fresh  conscriptions,  of  further  wholesale  dev- 
astations, and  of  new  rivers  of  human  blood;  and  a  wide- 
spread conviction  that  the  Government  and  its  supporters  are 
not  anxious  for  peace  and  do  not  improve  proffered  oppor- 
tunities to  achieve  it,  is  doing  great  harm  and  is  morally  cer- 
tain, unless  removed,  to  do  far  greater  in  the  approaching 
elections.  .  .  . 

"Mr.  President,  I  fear  you  do  not  realize  how  intently 
the  people  desire  any  peace  consistent  with  the  national  in- 
tegrity and  honor,  and  how  joyously  they  would  hail  its 
achievement  and  bless  its  authors.  .  .  .  I  do  not  say  that 
a  just  peace  is  now  attainable,  though  I  believe  it  to  be  so."  13 

In  this  letter  Mr.  Greeley  informs  the  President  of  the 
presence  of  the  two  above-named  Confederate  officers  at 
Niagara  Falls  and  intimates  that  they  are  authorized  by  the 
Confederate  Government  to  offer  terms  of  peace.  He  further 
asks  on  behalf  of  those  alleged  commissioners  the  President's 
safe  conduct  that  they  may  visit  Washington  and  confer  with 
him. 

But  Abraham  Lincoln  was  not  to  be  caught  in  the  trap 
thus  skillfully  set  and  baited  by  the  Confederate  emissaries 
and  their  unsophisticated  associate — Horace  Greeley.  He 
understood  far  better  than  Mr.  Greeley  the  mission  of  those 
Confederate  commissioners  at  Niagara  Falls.  Therefore,  with 
characteristic  sagacity  Mr.  Lincoln  on  the  9th  of  July,  1864, 
replied  to  this  letter  from  Mr.  Greeley  as  follows:  "If  you 
can  find  any  person  anywhere  professing  to  have  authority 
from  Jefferson  Davis,  in  writing,  embracing  the  restoration  of 
13  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Vol.  IX.,  pp.  186-187. 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY          475 

the  Union  and  the  abandonment  of  slavery,  whatever  else  it 
embraces,  say  to  him  that  he  may  come  to  me  with  you." 

This  would  have  led  to  movements  that  would  have  re- 
sulted in  peace  but  for  the  vital  defect — the  Confederate  lead- 
ers were  not  seeking  peace  except  upon  the  condition  of  South- 
ern Independence.  Therefore,  those  two  Confederate  leaders 
when  confronted  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  proposition  communicated 
to  them  by  Horace  Greeley  were  compelled  to  admit  that 
they  had  no  official  authority  to  negotiate  for  peace. 

In  a  private  letter  dated  July  25th,  1864,  and  addressed 
to  Mr.  Abram  Wakeman,  postmaster  of  New  York  City,  Mr. 
Lincoln  said:  "The  men  of  the  South  recently  (and  probably 
still)  at  Niagara  Falls  tell  us  distinctly  that  they  are  in  the 
confidential  employment  of  the  Rebellion,  and  they  tell  us  as 
distinctly  that  they  are  not  empowered  to  offer  terms  of  peace. 
Does  any  one  doubt  that  what  they  are  empowered  to  do  is 
to  assist  in  selecting  and  arranging  a  candidate  and  a  platform 
for  the  Chicago  convention?" 

This  letter  shows  that  Mr.  Lincoln  fully  understood  the 
purposes  for  which  the  Confederate  commissioners  were  at 
Niagara  Falls  and  that  the  peace  proposition  which  Mr.  Gree- 
ley so  zealously  espoused  was  but  another  one  of  the  many 
skillfully  constructed  schemes  by  which  the  Confederate  leaders 
sought  to  secure  from  Mr.  Lincoln  a  recognition  of  the  Con- 
federacy which  would  be  embarrassing  to  him  and  helpful  to 
them  at  the  capitals  of  foreign  nations.  Occurring  as  it  did 
during  the  dark  and  dismal  days  of  the  Preside'  .il  campaign 
of  1864  it  would  have  been  inestimably  harmfu.  to  the  Union 
cause  but  for  the  skill  and  promptness  with  which  it  was 
exposed  by  the  President's  prompt  reply.  It  is  probable  that 
in  all  the  country  Horace  Greeley  was  the  only  great  man 
who,  at  such  a  time,  could  have  been  led  into  such  an  ambush 
of  the  enemy. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  it  was  just  at  this  time  of 
peculiar  need  that  there  came  to  Mr.  Lincoln  information 
which  under  God  was  most  sustaining  and  helpful  to  him,  in 


476     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

his  peculiarly  difficult  work.  Direct  from  the  Confederate 
capital,  as  I  have  elsewhere  fully  explained,  Mr.  Gilmore  had 
brought  to  the  President  the  declarations  of  Jefferson  Davis 
respecting  his  determination  to  submit  to  no  terms  of  peace 
which  did  not  include  the  independence  of  the  South.  With 
this  knowledge  which  he  knew  would  soon*  be  communicated 
to  the  millions  throughout  the  loyal  states,  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
comforted  and  sustained,  as  was  Elijah  beneath  the  juniper 
tree,  by  the  ministration  of  the  celestial  messenger. 

There  is  no  reasonable  explanation  of  the  contradictory 
characteristics  in  Mr.  Greeley's  nature.  He  was  merciless  as 
well  as  masterful  in  the  use  of  his  facile  pen.  With  a  severity 
that  made  the  heart  quiver  he  piled  his  maledictions  upon  the 
institution  of  slavery  and  upon  those  identified  with  it.  But 
he  seemed  to  be  insensible  to  the  unutterable  anguish  which 
his  pen  inflicted  upon  the  hearts  of  true,  brave,  loyal  Union 
men  who  were  not  less  opposed  to  slavery  than  was  he,  but 
who  differed  from  him  concerning  minor  features  of  that 
question.  He  could  not  endure  the  thought  "of  the  needless 
effusion  of  blood,"  but  would  deliberately  and  without  com- 
punction, pierce  with  a  thousand  pains  the  hearts  of  as  true 
and  loyal  men  as  ever  wore  the  uniform  or  carried  the  seal 
of  office.  He  seemed  utterly  indifferent  to  the  pleas  that  were 
made  for  forbearance  toward  President  Lincoln,  who,  as  the 
world  now  sees,  was  guided  by  infinite  wisdom  in  the  course 
he  pursued.  Mr.  Lincoln's  heart  was  as  tender  as  a  loving 
mother  toward  even  his  most  malignant  enemy,  and  he  de- 
plored the  shedding  of  blood  quite  as  fully  as  did  Horace 
Greeley,  or  any  other  human  being. 

The  life  led  by  Mr.  Greeley  was  singularly  adapted  to 
accentuate  these  qualities.  Each  denunciation  of  slavery 
seemed  to  fill  his  heart  with  a  spirit  of  bitterness  and  cause 
him  to  pour  out  the  vials  of  his  wrath  upon  the  devoted  heads 
of  public  officials  and  army  officers  who  failed  to  win  his  ap- 
probation. He  dipped  his  pen  in  vitriol  when  writing  against 
slavery,  and  by  the  force  of  habit,  when  commenting  on  the 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    477 

attitudes  and  activities  of  our  good  President  his  hand  auto- 
matically sought  the  same  bottle  in  which  he  had  found  the 
liquid  to  his  liking  when  denouncing  slavery. 

No  one  will  question  Mr.  Greeley's  loyalty  to  his  convic- 
tions; but  those  of  us  who  knew  him  well  will  agree  that 
he  was  constitutionally  incompetent  to  reach  right  conclu- 
sions with  reference  to  practical,  abstract  propositions  relative 
to  which  he  had  strong  preferences.  Perhaps,  to  say  frankly 
that  Mr.  Greeley  was  defective  in  judgment  would  be  more 
readily  and  generally  understood.  An  artist  would  possibly 
say  that  he  was  overstocked  with  perspective  but  defective  in 
intermediate  details.  In  personal  affairs  he  was,  as  a  rule, 
wise  and  discreet.  He  began  with  nothing  and  learned  that 
wealth,  strength  and  influence  were  attained  by  increment. 
But  in  public  affairs  he  would  fix  his  eye  upon  some  great 
object  which  he  believed  should  be  attained  -and  when  the 
goal  was  reached  by  the  patient  and  persevering  efforts  of 
others,  he  simply  knew  he  was  at  the  point  he  had  sought 
to  reach,  and  regarded  the  achievement  as  the  result  of  his 
far-seeing  wisdom,  ability  and  skill  in  execution.  He  would 
recognize  a  possible  achievement  as  desirable  in  governmental 
affairs  and  until  it  was  obtained  he  would  accuse  the  govern- 
ment of  tardiness  and  denounce  those  in  authority  without 
inquiring  the  cause  of  delay.  With  his  meager  knowledge 
of  conditions  he  would  pronounce  emphatic  judgment  against 
the  acts  of  others  who,  unlike  himself,  were  familiar  with  all 
the  facts  connected  with  the  affair. 

A  striking  illustration  of  these  characteristics  of  Horace 
Greeley,  which  the  present  generation  should  understand,  is 
found  in  his  attitude  to  the  question  of  national  finances,  not 
only  during  the  years  of  the  rebellion,  but  also  during  the 
troublesome  period  of  reconstruction. 

During  the  rebellion  the  enormous  cost  of  prosecuting  the 
war  was  far  greater  than  the  amount  of  hard  money  (gold  and 
silver)  which  it  was  possible  for  the  government  to  secure. 
Mr.  Lincoln's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Hon.  Salmon  P. 


478    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Chase,  found  that  his  predecessor  in  office  had,  by  skillful 
manipulation,  compelled  him  to  confront  the  enormous  ex- 
penses of  the  war  with  an  empty  treasury.  Therefore,  it 
became  necessary  to  issue  redeemable  paper  currency  for  the 
payment  of  which,  at  as  early  a  period  as  possible,  and  in  hard 
money,  the  national  government  was  responsible.  This  paper 
money  became,  throughout  the  nation,  the  medium  of  ex- 
change in  the  transaction  of  all  private  business,  and  nearly 
all  the  business  of  the  national  government. 

Gold  and  silver  money  was  automatically  withdrawn  from 
circulation,  and  rose  to  a  high  premium  as  the  amount  of 
paper  money  was  increased.  It  was  provided  that  at  as  early 
a  date  as  possible  the  government  would  redeem  its  paper 
currency  with  hard  money,  and  with  the  same  medium  would 
meet  its  own  financial  obligations.  This  was  designated  as 
"the  resumption  of  specie  payment,"  and  to  accomplish  that 
result  was  the  greatest  problem  of  the  government  after 
the  close  of  the  rebellion. 

The  Congressional  Record  shows  that  General  James  A. 
Garfield,  who  was  at  that  time  a  member  of  Congress  from 
Ohio,  a  favorite  son  of  the  Buckeye  state,  and  was  looked 
upon  as  the  coming  man,  did  not  participate  to  any  consid- 
erable extent  in  the  discussions  and  proceedings  of  Congress 
respecting  reconstruction.  Some  of  us  who  were  deeply  in- 
terested in  the  future  career  of  this  talented  and  highly  cul- 
tured young  statesman,  remonstrated  with  him  because  of  his 
seeming  neglect  of  passing  opportunities  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion and  win  the  favor  of  the  nation.  To  these  expressions 
of  friendly  solicitude  General  Garfield  replied:  "The  great 
question  which  this  war  will  require  the  American  statesmen 
to  understand  is  not  Reconstruction,  but  Finance — how  to 
pay  the  nation's  debts  and  how  to  resume  specie  payment ;  and 
that  is  the  question  I  am  now  studying,  and  which  I  hope  at 
the  time  of  need  thoroughly  to  understand." 

That  answer  was  not  fully  satisfactory  to  us  young  men, 
but  in  due  time  the  financial  world  and  the  governments  of 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    479 

earth  were  astonished  by  General  Garfield's  perfect  familiarity 
with  the  whole  financial  problem  of  the  nation  and  his  wise 
leadership  in  the  settlement  of  that  great  problem  growing  out 
of  the  war.  It  was  my  privilege  to  sit  with  enraptured  soul 
and  listen  to  that  really  marvelous  speech  by  which  that  strong 
advocate  of  protection  won  for  himself  a  voluntary  tender 
of  membership  in  the  Free  Trade  Cobden  Club  of  London; 
and  I  then  understood  the  significance  of  General  Garfield's 
earlier  statements  respecting  his  diligent  and  tireless  investi- 
gation of  financial  problems. 

And  while  General  Garfield  and  other  far-seeing  American 
statesmen  were  thus  studying  the  great  financial  problem  of 
the  nation;  while  the  government  was  exercising  its  every 
power  and  taxing  to  the  limit  all  its  wisdom  and  resources  to 
meet  the  nation's  current  needs,  and  at  the  same  time  provide 
for  the  earliest  possible  resumption  of  specie  payment,  Horace 
Greeley  was  very  active,  not  in  a  diligent  study  of  the  financial 
problem  but  in  publishing  imperious  demands  for  the  imme- 
diate resumption  of  specie  payment.  "Resume!  Resume!" 
was  his  imperative  demand,  and  "the  way  to  resume,  is  to 
resume,"  so  constantly  appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  Tribune 
that  it  became  a  byword  throughout  the  nation,  and  is,  even 
yet,  in  a  paraphrase  form  used  in  jocose  demands  for  reaching 
the  unattainable. 

For  several  hours  I  sat  by  Mr.  Greeley's  side,  on  a  sofa, 
in  the  national  House  of  Representatives,  and  listened  to  his 
emphatic  statements  with  reference  to  governmental  ques- 
tions. It  was  during  the  closing  months  of  the  war  when  it 
required  nearly  three  dollars  in  paper  money  to  purchase  one 
dollar  in  gold  or  silver.  During  that  conversation  he  vehe- 
mently demanded  a  return  to  specie  payment  and  said:  "I 
do  not  believe  any  man  is  fit  to  be  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
who  cannot  resume  specie  payment  within  thirty  days  after 
the  war  closes." 

I  listened  to  that  declaration  of  Mr.  Greeley  with  reference 
to  the  resumption  of  specie  payment  with  unspeakable  aston- 


480     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ishment.  It  required  no  considerable  knowledge  of  the  prac- 
tical affairs  of  government  to  make  apparent  the  utter  im- 
possibility of  the  achievement  which  he  so  confidently  and 
emphatically  declared  to  be  attainable.  When  those  words 
were  spoken  by  the  great  New  York  editor,  William  Pitt 
Fessenden,  the  successor  of  Salmon  P.  Chase,  had  charge  of 
the  Treasury  portfolio  of  the  government.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded in  that  position  by  Hugh  McCullough,  a  man  of  tran- 
scendent ability  and  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  subject  of 
national  finance.  And  through  all  the  administration  of 
Andrew  Johnson,  the  eight  years  of  General  Grant,  and  a  por- 
tion of  the  administration  of  R.  B.  Hayes,  from  1865  to 
1879,  fifteen  years  in  all,  the  government  struggled  con- 
stantly, under  the  leadership  of  our  greatest  financiers,  to 
reach  the  goal  which  Mr.  Greeley,  with  vehemence,  declared 
could  be  attained  in  thirty  days. 

The  resumption  of  specie  payment  was  reached  during  the 
administration  of  President  Hayes,  with  that  masterful  finan- 
cier and  statesman — Hon.  John  Sherman — as  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  And  that  achievement,  fifteen  years  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  caused  Mr.  Sherman  to  be  regarded  as  one  of 
the  ablest  financiers  in  the  world  and  came  very  near  placing 
him  in  the  presidential  chair.  But  that  magnificent  achieve- 
ment seemed  to  Mr.  Greeley,  even  when  the  war  was  still  in 
progress,  as  a  work  to  be  accomplished  in  thirty  days.  He 
had  no  patience  with  those  who  were  engaged  in  making  neces- 
sary preparation  for  resumption.  He  could  not  wait  for  the 
government  to  accumulate  sufficient  gold  to  make  possible  the 
redemption  of  its  paper  money. 

As  in  1 86 1,  while  the  country  was  without  an  army  that 
could  safely  advance  against  the  Confederate  forces,  Mr. 
Greeley  imperatively  demanded  an  immediate  forward  move- 
ment, so  in  1865  he  insisted  that  the  government  should  make 
even  exchange  of  specie  for  paper  money  when  there  was  no 
specie  with  which  to  make  that  exchange.  It  was  not  difficult 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    481 

for  Mr.  Lincoln  patiently  to  bear  with  Mr.  Greeley  and  give 
his  opinions  the  consideration  which  was  due;  but  coupled 
with  the  defects  in  Mr.  Greeley's  intellect  was  an  imperious 
dominating  spirit  that  caused  the  President  not  only  serious 
embarrassment  but  excruciating  pain.  He  was  unwilling  to 
share  with  others  the  privilege  of  conference  with  the  Presi- 
dent, but  insisted  upon  being  his  only  counsellor  respecting 
many  important  matters  relative  to  which  he  had  but  limited 
information.  He  was  like  the  boy  who,  while  riding  horse- 
back with  his  brother,  with  petulance  exclaimed:  "If  one  of 
us  would  get  off  there  would  be  more  room  for  me." 

Additional  light  upon  the  characteristics  of  Mr.  Greeley 
which  caused  President  Lincoln  so  much  needless  embarrass- 
ment and  suffering  is  found  in  the  following  statement  in  the 
autobiography  of  Dr.  Andrew  D.  White.  In  writing  of  Mr. 
Greeley  as  a  member  of  the  New  York  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion in  1867,  Dr.  White  says: 

"Mr.  Greeley  was  at  first  all-powerful.  .  .  .  For  a  few 
days  he  had  everything  his  own  way.  But  he  soon  proved 
to  be  so  erratic  a  leader  that  his  influence  was  completely  lost, 
and  after  a  few  sessions  there  was  hardly  any  member  with 
less  real  power  to  influence  the  judgments  of  his  colleagues." 

Dr.  White  tells  of  Mr.  Greeley's  imperious,  dictatorial 
bearing  toward  other  members  of  the  convention,  and  of  his 
profane  denunciations  of  some  who  voted  contrary  to  his 
wishes.  Not  content  with  his  opportunities  to  complain  and 
grumble  in  the  convention  he  filled  the  columns  of  the  Tribune 
with  his  harmful  criticisms  until,  as  Dr.  White  says,  "The 
convention  became  thoroughly  though  unjustly  discredited 
throughout  the  state  and  indeed  throughout  the  country."  Mr. 
Greeley  finally  came  to  approve  the  work  of  the  convention 
and  sought  by  strong  editorials  in  the  Tribune  to  secure  its 
adoption  by  the  people,  "but  it  was  all  in  vain.  The  unfavor- 
able impression  had  been  too  widely  and  too  deeply  made,  and 
the  result  was  that  the  new  Constitution  when  submitted  to 


482     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  people  was  ignominiously  voted  down  and  the  whole  sum- 
mer's work  of  the  Convention  went  for  nothing."  14 

The  following  is  Mr.  Greeley's  own  testimony  concerning 
the  matters  herein  referred  to:  "It  is  quite  probable  that,  had 
a  popular  election  been  held  at  any  time  during  the  year  fol- 
lowing the  Fourth  of  July,  1862,  on  the  question  of  continu- 
ing the  war  or  arresting  it  on  the  best  attainable  terms,  a  ma- 
jority would  have  voted  for  peace ;  while  it  is  highly  probable 
that  a  still  larger  majority  would  have  voted  against  eman- 
cipation. From  an  early  hour  of  the  struggle  the  public  mind 
slowly  and  steadily  gravitated  toward  the  conclusion  that  the 
Rebellion  was  vulnerable  only  or  mainly  through  slavery;  but 
that  conclusion  was  scarcely  reached  by  a  majority  before  the 
occurrence  of  the  New  York  riots,  in  July,  1863.  The  Presi- 
dent, though  widely  reproached  with  tardiness  and  reluctance 
in  taking  up  the  gauge  plainly  thrown  down  by  the  Slave 
Power,  was  probably  ahead  of  the  majority  of  the  people  of 
the  loyal  states  in  definitely  accepting  the  issue  of  Emancipa- 
tion or  Disunion.  Having  taken  a  long  step  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, he  never  retracted  nor  seemed  to  regret  it;  though  he 
sometimes  observed  that  the  beneficial  results  of  the  Emanci- 
pation policy  were  neither  so  signal  nor  so  promptly  realized 
as  its  sanguine  promoters  had  anticipated."  15 

It  is  unfortunate  that  it  required  the  tragic  death  of  the 
great  and  good  President,  the  lapse  of  time,  and  the  lessons 
of  many  years  to  cause  Mr.  Greeley  to  realize  the  marvelous 
wisdom  and  statesmanship  of  the  man  to  whose  lips,  while 
living,  he  so  constantly  held  the  cup  of  bitterness.  It  seems 
a  poor  atonement  for  Mr.  Greeley's  sins  of  caustic  criticism 
thus  to  place  a  wreath  upon  the  martyr's  brow.  But  what 
more  at  that  late  day  could  he  do?  The  great  lesson  taught 
by  what  I  have  here  recorded  is  to  avoid  the  evils  by  which 
the  life  of  one  of  our  greatest  men  was  so  seriously  marred. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  the  infelicity  with  which  the  life 

"  Autobiography  of  Andrew  D.  White,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  142-146. 
15  Horace  Greeley,  The  American  Conflict,  VoL  II.,  pp.  254-255. 


LINCOLN  AND  HORACE  GREELEY    483 

of  President  Lincoln  was  embittered  has  wrought  a  great  and 
beneficent  reform  in  our  country.  When  the  great  heart  which 
those  infelicities  pierced  with  poignant  pain  suddenly  ceased 
to  beat,  the  pages  of  history  became  luminous  and  in  that 
light  the  great  worth  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  seen,  and  the 
cruelties  inflicted  upon  him  sought  in  vain  to  hide  from 
the  displeasure  of  humanity.  The  indignities  which  marred  the 
pages  of  the  London  Punch  suddenly  became  vocal  with  the 
wail  of  sorrow  which  Tom  Taylor,  in  his  anguish,  gave  to 
the  world  in  plaintive  poetry.  And  in  our  own  land  the  hearts 
which  were  unrelenting  while  Mr.  Lincoln  lived,  softened  to 
gentleness  when  he  died,  and  the  harsh  and  rasping  voices 
of  criticism  mellowed  in  eulogy  and  praise.  When  "the  Lord 
turned  and  looked  upon  Peter,"  the  disciple  who  had  thrice 
denied  his  Lord  "went  out  and  wept  bitterly." 

And  into  that  same  seclusion  of  sorrowful  regret  there 
fled  a  multitude  of  the  unreasonable  and  unreasoning  fanatics 
who,  prompted  by  Satanic  influences,  piled  maledictions  in- 
stead of  merited  commendation  and  praise  upon  the  Lord's 
chosen  chieftain  of  the  nation.  And  from  that  valley  of  hu- 
miliation, where  causeless  criticism  of  the  great  and  good 
President  appeared  in  all  its  hideous  hatefulness,  the  nation 
has  ascended  to  a  height  of  beatific  vision  of  the  rights  of 
rulers  and  the  obligations  of  those  who  have  chosen  them  to 
authority. 


VII 
WADE-DAVIS  MANIFESTO 

THE  revolt  against  President  Lincoln  which  was  of  all 
such  demonstrations  the  most  painful  to  him  and  the 
most  dangerous  to  the  Union  cause  was  what  is 
known  in  history  as  "The  Wade-Davis  Manifesto."     The 
leader  in  that  revolt  was  Hon.  Henry  Winter  Davis,  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress  from  Maryland  from  1855  to  1861,  and  from 
1863  until  his  death  on  December  3Oth,  1865. 

Mr.  Davis  was  an  exceptionally  strong  personality — a  man 
of  great  intellectual  force,  of  wide  range  of  scholarship,  and 
intensely  and  unyieldingly  purposeful  in  all  his  relations  to 
public  matters.  High  spirited  and  of  violent  temper,  he  was 
imperious  in  bearing,  and  being  one  of  the  most  gifted  and 
accomplished  orators  in  Congress,  and  a  republican  from  a 
slave  state,  he  exerted  a  very  great  influence  in  Congress.  His 
aggressive  nature  swept  him  along  into  extremes  in  opinion 
and  in  speech.  It  would  have  been  unlike  Mr.  Davis  to  char- 
acterize any  man  or  measure  as  unwise.  That  would  have 
been  a  term  too  weak  to  express  his  haughty  disdain  of  any 
matter  of  which  he  did  not  heartily  approve.  The  heroic 
warfare  which  he  waged  against  slavery  and  secession  was 
of  that  extreme  denunciatory  character  which  developed  and 
strengthened  the  distinctive  and  dominant  characteristics  of 
his  nature.  Therefore,  when  he  had  occasion  to  differ  from 
the  President,  his  opposition  was  expressed  in  severe  denuncia- 
tion which  unfortunately  was  carried  to  such  extremes  as 
greatly  to  annoy  Mr.  Lincoln  and  embarrass  the  administra- 
tion. 

484 


WADE-DAVIS  MANIFESTO  485 

At  the  period  of  which  I  am  now  writing  the  status  of 
the  states  in  rebellion  had  come  to  be  a  question  of  overshad- 
owing importance.  Upon  that  question  the  party  in  power 
was  sharply  and  seriously  divided.  The  radical  element 
claimed  that  the  states  which  joined  in  the  secession  move- 
ment and  in  rebellion  had  thereby  lost  their  identity  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Union;  and  that  they  could  be  restored  to  their 
former  standing  only  by  processes  similar  to  those  by  which 
territories  were  admitted  into  the  Union  as  states. 

As  private  secretary  of  the  Hon.  James  M.  Ashley,  who 
was  quite  prominent  and  influential  at  that  time,  and  who  was 
one  of  the  leading  advocates  of  views  held  by  the  most  radical 
of  the  Union  party,  I  became  thoroughly  familiar  with  their 
plan  of  reconstruction,  and  with  the  arguments  by  which  their 
views  were  defended.  General  Ashley,  by  changing  his  vote 
on  the  Constitutional  Amendment  abolishing  and  prohibit- 
ing slavery  when  that  measure  was  defeated  in  the  House, 
had  obtained  charge  of  that  amendment,  when  upon  his  mo- 
tion it  was  for  the  second  time  brought  before  the  House, 
and  as  mover  of  the  motion  made  the  first  speech  in  the  debate 
which  followed. 

At  his  home  in  Toledo,  Ohio,  in  an  extended  interview,  he 
conferred  with  me  relative  to  his  views  on  that  subject,  and 
I  read  with  care  the  manuscript  of  his  speech  upon  that  amend- 
ment before  it  was  delivered  in  the  House.  Thus,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  controversy,  I  became  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  the  radical  programme  of  reconstruction.  Mr. 
Davis  was  the  leading  advocate  of  that  doctrine  in  the  House, 
and  Senator  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  of  Ohio,  was  his  closest  and 
most  zealous  associate  in  that  work. 

President  Lincoln  was  pronouncedly  opposed  to  this  theory 
of  reconstruction,  claiming  that  the  war  was  being  conducted 
as  an  emphatic  declaration  that  the  states  had  no  power  to 
renounce  their  allegiance  to  the  national  government,  or  to 
destroy  or  forfeit  their  standing  in  the  Union ;  and  that  when 
the  rebellion  was  suppressed,  the  general  government  should 


486    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

by  wisely  chosen  methods  restore  to  the  several  states  their 
former  rights  and  privileges  in  the  Union. 

A  man  possessing  the  statesmanlike  forecast  for  which 
President  Lincoln  was  distinguished,  would  not  fail  to  realize 
the  importance  of  taking  definite  position  on  the  important 
question  of  reconstruction  as  early  as  would  be  advisable. 
Therefore,  in  his  message  to  Congress,  December  8th,  1863, 
he  introduced  the  subject,  stating  with  very  great  clearness 
his  views  relative  to  the  matter,  and  presenting  arguments  of 
irresistible  force  in  defense  of  his  views  on  the  question. 
Every  member  of  his  Cabinet,  with  the  exception  of  Mr. 
Chase,  was  in  favor  of  the  policy  which  the  President  in  his 
message  indicated  as  the  one  which  he  would  pursue.  There 
had  been  in  portions  of  the  speeches  of  leading  members  of 
Congress,  and  also  in  some  resolutions  introduced  by  them, 
some  indefinite  expressions  of  conviction  relative  to  the  status 
of  the  states  in  rebellion.  Senator  Charles  Sumner  had,  in  a 
resolution,  spoken  of  "State  Suicide"  in  such  a  way  as  to  indi- 
cate that  his  views  on  reconstruction  were  not  in  harmony 
with  those  which  subsequently  were  advocated  by  the  Presi- 
dent in  the  message  above  referred  to. 

While  the  message  was  being  read  in  the  two  Houses  of 
Congress  it  received  unusually  marked  attention.  There  was 
a  solemn  hush  when  it  launched  boldly  out  upon  the  untried 
and  unknown  sea  of  reconstruction.  Some  of  the  great  lead- 
ers of  the  radical  portion  of  the  Union  party  leaned  forward 
in  their  seats  and  seemed  intent  upon  catching  every  word 
which  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  reading  clerk.  This  was  con- 
tinued until  it  became  evident  that  the  President  would  take 
the  more  conservative  view  of  the  subject,  at  which  point 
extremists  like  Mr.  Sumner  became  restless,  and  some  by 
their  manner  indicated  impatience. 

But  so  definite  and  clear  was  the  statement  of  the  Presi- 
dent's views,  and  so  tremendous  was  the  strength  of  the  argu- 
ments by  which  they  were  defended,  that  not  even  the  ex- 
tremists were  able  to  appear  inattentive  while  that  portion  of 


WADE-DAVIS  MANIFESTO  487 

the  message  was  being  read.  The  influence  of  the  reading  of 
the  message  in  both  House  and  Senate  was  scarcely  less  than 
marvelous.  The  recognized  adherents  of  the  kind  and  con- 
servative policy  of  the  President  listened  throughout  with 
marked  intensity,  and  no  manifestation  of  disapproval  was 
anywhere  to  be  seen. 

At  the  close  of  the  reading  of  the  message  Mr.  Chand- 
ler, the  big,  burly  senator  from  Michigan,  was  delighted.  The 
deep-toned  voice  of  Mr.  Sumner  expressed  with  emphasis  his 
joyous  satisfaction.  Mr.  Dixon  and  Reverdy  Johnson  said  the 
message  was  satisfactory.  Henry  Wilson,  "in  the  overflowing 
kindness  of  his  great  big  heart,"  requested  the  President's  pri- 
vate secretary  "to  tell  the  President  that  he  had  struck  another 
great  blow,  God  bless  him !"  Quite  as  pronounced  was  the  en- 
dorsement received  from  leading  members  of  the  House.  Hon. 
George  S.  Boutwell,  who  was  regarded  as  the  leader  of  the 
extreme  antislavery  New  England  sentiment,  said  of  the  mes- 
sage: "It  is  a  very  able  and  shrewd  paper,  and  it  is  all  right." 
Owen  Lovejoy,  of  Illinois,  was  outspoken  and  emphatic  in  his 
approval  of  the  position  taken  by  the  President,  and  with 
characteristic  religious  fervor  said  he  could  "see  on  the  moun- 
tains the  feet  of  one  bringing  good  tidings."  Of  like  char- 
acter, and  quite  as  emphatic,  were  the  expressions  of  approval 
from  General  Garfield,  Francis  W.  Kellogg,  and  H.  T.  Blow. 
Even  Horace  Greeley,  who  always  gave  approval  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's acts  with  strange  reluctance,  being  on  the  floor  of  the 
House  when  the  message  was  read,  declared  in  characteristic 
language  that  it  was  "devilish  good."  All  day  long  and  into 
the  night  the  Executive  Mansion  was  thronged  by  delighted 
members  of  the  Senate  and  the  House,  army  officers,  promi- 
nent politicians  from  every  portion  of  the  country,  and  news- 
paper men  galore,  all  expressing  their  unreserved  and  unquali- 
fied approval  of  the  policy  announced  by  the  President,  and 
his  unanswerable  argument  in  its  support. 

A  still  stronger  indication  of  the  impression  the  President's 
message  had  made  was  seen  in  the  changed  appearance  and 


488     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

manner  of  the  leading  members  of  the  two  branches  of  Con- 
gress, and  especially  of  the  Union  members.  It  was  like  the 
"clearing  up"  in  autumn  after  dark  and  threatening  clouds 
had  for  several  days  covered  the  sky,  and  given  evidence  of 
approaching  storms.  This  burst  of  sunshine  lighted  up  and 
softened  the  strong  and  classic  features  of  the  great  Massa- 
chusetts senator,  which,  though  they  did  not  quite  reach  the 
point  of  wearing  a  pleasing  smile,  were  without  any  trace  of 
the  determined  expression  they  usually  bore.  The  same 
light,  like  the  rising  sun  in  Indian  summer,  glorified  the  face 
of  Hon.  Henry  Wilson,  Mr.  Sumner's  colleague  in  the  senate. 
Most  marked  of  all  were  the  changes  in  the  very  thoughtful 
and  strong  features  of  Hon.  Reverdy  Johnson  of  Maryland, 
who  was  probably  the  ablest  lawyer  in  the  senate.  His  slop- 
ing shoulders  were  elevated,  and  he  walked  with  an  erectness 
and  springing  step  which  I  never  noticed  in  him  at  any  other 
time. 

The  coming  man  of  the  House,  the  thorough  scholar,  the 
untiring  student  and  able  advocate,  General  James  A.  Garfield, 
freely  expressed  his  great  satisfaction  at  the  position  taken  by 
the  President  and  his  admiration  of  his  exceedingly  able  argu- 
ment in  defense  of  that  position.  And  so  in  both  branches  of 
the  national  legislature,  there  was  a  spirit  of  exuberance  and 
settled  satisfaction  which  I  saw  at  no  other  time  during  the 
five  years  of  my  connection  with  the  legislative  branch  of  the 
government.  It  seemed  that  the  millennium  had  come  and 
that  the  anthem,  "Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to  men,"  again 
was  being  chanted  by  the  heavenly  choir. 

But  the  millennium  had  not  come,  and  the  celestial  music 
soon  was  smothered  by  a  rumbling  sound  that  seemed  to 
presage  a  coming  conflict.  The  first  tangible  indication  of 
antagonism  to  the  reconstruction  policy  of  the  administration 
was  in  a  motion  by  Henry  Winter  Davis,  in  the  House,  that 
the  portion  of  the  President's  message  relating  to  reconstruc- 
tion be  referred  to  a  special  committee  of  which  he  was  made 
chairman.  This  motion  was  adopted  by  the  House  without 


WADE-DAVIS  MANIFESTO  489 

hesitation,  or  inquiry.  The  referring  of  the  reconstruction 
portions  of  the  President's  message  to  a  committee  which  was 
known  to  be  dominated  by  Mr.  Davis,  did  not  at  the  time 
attract  sufficient  attention  greatly  to  disturb  those  who  were 
confidently  expecting  a  harmonious  and  progressive  session  of 
Congress,  and  a  sweeping  victory  at  the  polls  in  November. 

It  was  known,  however,  that  Mr.  Davis,  at  the  slightest 
provocation,  real  or  imaginary,  was  certain  to  assail  the  Pres- 
ident with  characteristic  severity,  but  the  nation-wide  ap- 
proval of  the  message  seemed  sufficiently  emphatic  and  lauda- 
tory to  hush  into  satisfying  silence  all  hostile  and  harmful 
criticism.  The  progress  of  the  nation's  arms  on  every  field 
so  attracted  public  attention  and  stimulated  patriotic  interest 
and  enthusiasm  that  elaborate  preparations  for  a  factional 
assault  upon  the  President  was  systematically  conducted  by 
Mr.  Davis  and  his  followers  without  arousing  any  general 
apprehension  of  danger  to  the  Union  cause. 

At  length  the  Davis  committee  presented  its  report  upon 
the  portion  of  the  message  of  the  President  which  had  been 
referred  to  it.  That  report  came  in  the  form  of  a  Recon- 
struction Bill  skillfully  prepared  by  Mr.  Davis,  and  in  direct 
and  flagrant  conflict  with  the  reconstruction  policy  of  the 
President,  as  set  forth  and  advocated  in  his  annual  message 
presented  to  Congress  at  the  beginning  of  the  session.  That 
reconstruction  measure  was  supported  by  Mr.  Davis  in  a  speech 
of  great  power  and  eloquence,  but  of  such  animus  that  it 
aroused  the  adherents  of  the  President's  policy.  The  bill  con- 
tained the  following  preamble: 

"Whereas,  The  so-called  Confederate  states  are  a  public 
enemy,  waging  an  unjust  war,  whose  injustice  is  so  glaring 
that  they  have  no  right  to  claim  the  mitigation  of  the  extreme 
rights  of  war  which  are  accorded  by  modern  usage  to  an 
enemy  who  has  a  right  to  consider  the  war  a  just  one ;  and, 

"Whereas,  None  of  the  states  which,  by  a  regularly  re- 
corded majority  of  its  citizens,  have  joined  the  so-called  South- 
ern Confederacy  can  be  considered  and  treated  as  entitled  to 


490     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

be  represented  in  Congress  or  to  take  any  part  in  the  political 
government  of  the  Union."  .  .  . 

This  preamble,  as  is  plainly  seen,  contains  all  the  vitriol 
of  the  extreme  "State  Suicide"  policy  of  the  radicals.  It  was 
speedily  rejected  by  the  House,  but  the  bill  itself,  which 
throughout  all  its  sections  was  dominated  by  the  spirit  of  the 
preamble,  was  passed  by  the  decisive  vote  of  seventy-four  to 
fifty-nine.  While  the  discussion  of  this  bill  was  in  progress 
in  the  House,  President  Lincoln  made  no  effort  in  any  way 
to  prevent  its  approval.  When  it  reached  the  senate  it  was 
there  introduced  by  Senator  Wade,  of  Ohio,  who  had  charge 
of  the  measure  while  it  was  under  consideration  in  that  body. 

Mr.  Wade  was  one  of  the  most  widely  known  and  highly 
esteemed  members  of  the  senate.  He  was  somewhat  slow  in 
winning  nation-wide  fame,  for  early  in  his  senatorial  career 
he  was  the  colleague  of  the  princely  Salmon  P.  Chase,  so 
magnificent  in  personal  appearance,  so  manifestly  strong  in 
intellect,  so  profound  in  his  knowledge  of  law,  and  so  force- 
ful in  public  address  as  to  eclipse  most  of  the  other  anti- 
slavery  senators.  But  "Bluff  Ben  Wade,"  as  he  came  to  be 
designated,  moved  steadily  to  the  front  and  by  his  great  per- 
sonal courage,  pronounced  radical  convictions  and  rough  but 
tremendously  forceful  statements  of  his  views,  soon  came  to 
be  held  by  his  antislavery  associates  in  very  high  regard,  and 
to  be  respected  and  feared  by  those  who  disapproved  of  his 
convictions. 

He  was  a  pronounced  radical,  and  of  all  the  members  of 
the  senate  he,  perhaps,  was  the  most  outspoken  and  severe 
in  his  hostility  to  all  measures  which  he  disapproved.  He 
was  a  fitting  associate  of  Henry  Winter  Davis,  and  together 
they  constituted  a  force  not  easily  resisted. 

The  Davis  Reconstruction  Bill  was  amended  in  the  senate, 
and  at  length  submitted  to  a  conference  committee  of  the  two 
branches  of  Congress,  all  of  which  occupied  so  extended  a 
period  of  time  that  it  was  not  until  the  fourth  of  July,  1864, 


WADE-DAVIS  MANIFESTO  491 

the  last  day  of  the  session,  that  the  measure  was  finally  passed 
and  submitted  to  the  President  for  his  approval. 

During  all  the  prolonged  consideration  of  this  very  ob- 
jectionable measure  in  the  senate,  the  President  pursued  the 
same  policy  of  non-interference  which  had  been  observed  by 
him  while  the  bill  was  before  the  House.  I  call  special  atten- 
tion to  this  fact  because  of  the  charges  which  were  made 
against  the  President  for  his  course  respecting  this  measure. 
It  is  no  unusual  thing  for  a  President  to  be  very  active  and 
influential  in  securing  congressional  action  for  the  furtherance 
of  the  policy  of  his  administration.  Indeed  it  is  expected  of 
him  as  the  Chief  Magistrate,  and  the  official  and  responsible 
leader  of  his  party,  that  he  will  exercise  all  suitable  authority 
and  influence  to  secure  the  enactment  of  laws  which  are  in 
accordance  with  the  policy  of  the  party  in  power. 

It  is  possible  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  course  in  avoiding  all  in- 
terference with  the  action  of  Congress  relative  to  this  measure 
was  attributable  to  the  fact  that  reconstruction  was  a  new  issue 
which  had  grown  out  of  the  Rebellion,  and  was  without  any 
historical  precedents.  Therefore,  he  regarded  it  as  fitting, 
carefully  to  determine  upon  a  policy  in  harmony  with  his 
convictions,  and  having  presented  that  policy  in  his  official 
communication  to  Congress  to  leave  the  legislative  body  to 
take  such  action  as  in  the  judgment  of  its  members  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  occasion  required.  Whatever  were  the  influ- 
ences by  which  he  was  controlled,  it  is  certain  that  his  course 
respecting  this  measure  when  it  was  before  Congress  was 
entirely  unobjectionable.  The  President  had  in  no  way  inti- 
mated what  would  be  his  action  with  reference  to  the  bill 
when  it  should  be  presented  for  his  signature.  It  was  evi- 
dent, however,  that  the  leading  champions  of  that  measure 
were  somewhat  apprehensive  concerning  his  course,  for,  dur- 
ing the  last  hour  of  the  session,  while  he  was  engaged  in  his 
room  adjacent  to  the  Senate  Chamber  in  signing  bills  as  they 
were  passed,  Senator  Sumner  of  Massachusetts,  and  Repre- 
sentative Boutwell,  of  the  same  state,  were  standing  near  his 


492     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

desk  and  were  carefully  observing  what  he  did.  Bill  after 
bill  was  laid  upon  his  table  and  received  his  signature,  but 
when  the  Wade-Davis  Reconstruction  Bill  came  to  his  hand, 
he  quietly  laid  it  to  one  side  and  proceeded  with  his  work. 

This  action  was  observed  with  evident  disappointment  by 
Mr.  Sum  icr  and  Mr.  Boutwell,  but  they  courteously  refrained 
from  any  remark  respecting  what  he  had  done,  and  soon  with- 
drew. 

About  this  time  bluff  and  rough  "Zach"  Chandler,  of 
Michigan,  who  had  entered  the  President's  room,  rudely 
blurted  out  a  direct  inquiry  of  the  President  as  to  the  course 
he  intended  to  pursue  relative  to  that  bill.  With  his  customary 
courtesy  and  calmness,  Mr.  Lincoln  replied:  "This  bill  has 
been  placed  before  me  a  few  minutes  before  Congress  ad- 
journs. It  is  a  matter  of  too  much  importance  to  be  swal- 
lowed in  that  way." 

With  some  show  of  feeling,  Mr.  Chandler  declared  that  to 
veto  the  bill  would  be  harmful  to  the  party  in  the  northwest. 
A  brief  argument  ensued  between  the  President  and  the  Michi- 
gan senator,  and  when  Mr.  Chandler  referred  to  the  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation  as  an  interference  with  slavery  in  the 
states,  the  President  replied:  "I  conceive  that  I  may  in  an 
emergency  do  things  on  military  grounds  which  cannot  be 
done  constitutionally  by  Congress."  When  Mr.  Chandler  had 
withdrawn,  the  President  addressing  the  members  of  his  Cabi- 
net, who  were  present,  said:  "I  do  not  see  how  any  of  us 
now  can  deny  and  contradict  what  we  have  always  said,  that 
Congress  has  no  constitutional  power  over  slavery  in  the 
states."  This  sentiment  was  approved  by  every  member  of 
the  Cabinet  who  at  the  time  was  present.  The  President  fur- 
ther said:  "This  bill  and  the  position  of  these  gentlemen  seem 
to  me,  in  asserting  that  the  insurrectionary  states  are  no  longer 
in  the  Union,  to  make  the  fatal  admission  that  states,  when- 
ever they  please,  may  of  their  own  motion,  dissolve  their  con- 
nection with  the  Union.  Now  we  cannot  survive  that  admis- 


WADE-DAVIS  MANIFESTO  493 

sion,  I  am  convinced.  If  that  be  true,  I  am  not  President; 
these  gentlemen  are  not  Congress." 

The  President  and  his  constitutional  advisers  logically 
discriminated  between  an  act  of  Congress  respecting  a  state 
constitution  and  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  which  was 
an  act  of  the  Executive,  and  a  war  measure,  adopted,  as  was 
declared  in  the  Proclamation  itself,  "upon  military  necessity." 

In  some  way  it  very  soon  became  known  in  the  House 
that  the  President  had  not  attached  his  signature  to  the  Wade- 
Davis  Bill  and  the  leading  advocates  of  that  measure  were  at 
once  thrown  into  a  state  of  excitement  and  anger.  But  noth- 
ing could  be  done;  and  when  at  length  the  time  for  adjourn- 
ment came,  and  members  were  anxious  to  complete  their  work 
and  hasten  to  their  homes,  Mr.  Davis  was  favored  by  a  very 
limited  audience,  when  standing  upon  his  desk  in  the  House, 
pale  with  anger,  he  denounced  with  dramatic  fervor  the  action 
of  the  President  relative  to  his  favorite  measure. 

The  President  was  not  indifferent  to  the  indications  of 
serious  disturbance  and  division  in  his  party.  He  expressed 
his  apprehension  that  the  friends  of  the  measure  he  had  re- 
fused to  sign  would  "do  harm"  in  their  denunciation  of  his 
course.  But  there  was  not  the  slightest  indication  of  any 
faltering  or  fear  upon  his  part.  However,  according  to  his 
usual  custom  of  taking  the  people  into  his  confidence,  he  imme- 
diately issued  a  proclamation  in  which  he  stated  at  length, 
and  with  great  clearness,  the  provisions  of  the  bill  and  the 
reasons  which  had  caused  him  to  refuse  to  give  it  his  ap- 
proval. As  the  bill  was  passed  only  a  few  minutes  before 
the  adjournment  there  was  no  time  for  the  preparation  of  a 
veto  measure,  and  he  therefore  followed  the  course  which 
many  Presidents  have  pursued  and  gave  the  measure  what  is 
known  as  a  pocket  veto;  that  is,  he  simply  refrained  from 
attaching  his  signature  to  the  bill,  which  was  equivalent  to  a 
veto. 

All  this  turmoil  would  soon  have  passed  away  but  for  the 
insuppressible  contentiousness  of  Wade  and  Davis,  who  re- 


494    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

sponded  to  the  President's  proclamation  above  referred  to  by 
what  is  known  as  the  "Wade-Davis  Manifesto,"  which  they 
published  in  the  New  York  Tribune  of  August  5th,  1864.  A 
prominent  feature  of  that  Manifesto  was  its  violent  assault 
upon  President  Lincoln  for  the  exercise  of  his  constitutional 
prerogative  in  defeating,  by  his  veto,  a  measure  which  he 
fully  believed  was  not  only  harmful  in  its  nature,  but  was  also 
in  conflict  with  the  national  constitution,  and  with  common 
law.  The  Manifesto  was  addressed  "To  the  Supporters  of  the 
Government,"  and  began  by  saying: 

"We  have  read  without  surprise,  but  not  without  indigna- 
tion, the  proclamation  of  the  President  of  July  8th,  1864. 
The  supporters  of  the  administration  are  responsible  to  the 
country  for  its  conduct;  and  it  is  their  right  and  duty  to  check 
the  encroachments  of  the  Executive  on  the  authority  of  Con- 
gress, and  to  require  it  to  confine  itself  to  its  proper  sphere." 

The  first  phrase  in  the  Manifesto  is  an  insinuation  that 
its  authors  expected  some  act  of  the  President  like  that  of 
which  they  make  complaint.  The  next  phrase  declares  their 
"indignation."  The  mere  mention  of  these  portions  of  the 
Manifesto  is  sufficient  to  cause  one  to  realize  the  exceedingly 
infelicitous  spirit  in  which  that  Manifesto  was  prepared  and 
published.  But  its  chief  indictment  of  the  President  is  where 
it  speaks  of  "the  encroachments  of  the  Executive  on  Con- 
gress," and  maintains  that  the  Executive  should  be  required 
"to  confine  itself  to  its  proper  sphere."  Remembering  that 
these  two  men  were  able  and  distinguished  lawyers  and  public 
men  of  large  experience,  their  unqualified  charge  that  the 
conduct  of  the  President  was  an  encroachment  of  the  Execu- 
tive upon  the  rights  of  the  legislative  branch  of  government, 
should  be  considered  in  the  light  of  the  statements  already 
made  respecting  the  very  considerate  and  faultless  course  pur- 
sued by  the  President  while  this  Reconstruction  Bill  was  under 
consideration  in  the  House  and  Senate.  Certainly  the  accu- 
sation of  encroachment  could  not  apply  to  any  act  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  before  the  passage  of  this  bill.  It  must,  therefore, 


WADE-DAVIS  MANIFESTO  495 

refer  to  his  veto  of  the  measure,  or  to  his  proclamation,  or 
to  both.  Now  there  is  in  the  proclamation  not  one  utter- 
ance or  intimation  that  could  fairly  be  construed  into  an 
encroachment  upon  the  rights  and  the  prerogatives  of  the  legis- 
lative branch  of  government.  That  accusation,  therefore, 
must  refer  to  the  President's  refusal  to  make  the  measure 
effective  by  his  signature.  It  seems  incredible  that  such  able 
and  learned  men  should  have  gone  before  the  nation  making 
such  a  serious  charge  against  the  President,  for  in  vetoing 
a  measure  of  which  he  disapproved  he  was  unquestionably 
exercising  his  rightful  prerogative.  The  right  of  veto  is  as 
fully  guaranteed  to  the  President  by  the  national  Constitu- 
tion as  is  the  right  of  members  of  Congress  to  introduce, 
advocate  and  vote  for  measures  which  they  desire  to  have 
enacted.  No  one,  and  least  of  all  the  President  himself,  for 
a  moment  questioned  the  right  of  Mr.  Davis  to  prepare  this 
bill  and  advocate  its  adoption,  or  the  right  of  Mr.  Wade  to 
support  it.  And  the  insinuation  that  in  preventing  that  ob- 
jectionable measure  from  becoming  a  law,  the  Executive  had 
encroached  upon  the  rights  and  prerogatives  of  the  legislative 
branch  of  government  was  too  absurd  to  merit  respectful  con- 
sideration but  for  the  high  standing  of  its  authors. 

However,  in  spite  of  the  great  service  which  these  gen- 
tlemen rendered  the  cause  of  civic  righteousness,  their  conduct 
in  this  case  should  not  be  forgotten,  but  should  be  remem- 
bered and  held  up  as  an  illustration  of  the  utterly  unreason- 
able extent  to  which  great  men  may  go  when  moved  by  pas- 
sion and  animosity.  Viewed  in  the  light  of  the  almost  unani- 
mous approval  which  the  President's  reconstruction  policy 
receive  1  when  presented  in  his  annual  message  it  is  passing 
strange  that  within  six  brief  months  so  great  a  change  had 
been  wrought  as  to  make  possible  the  passage  of  the  Davis 
Reconstruction  Bill,  and  the  unseemly  and  harmful  imbroglio 
which  plunged  the  government  and  the  country  into  such 
humiliation  and  peril.  The  lowest  level  of  this  revolt  was 
reached  in  the  following  portion  of  the  Manifesto: 


496     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

"The  President  by  preventing  this  Bill  from  becoming  a 
law,  holds  the  electoral  vote  of  the  Rebel  states  at  the  dicta- 
tion of  his  personal  ambition.  ...  If  electors  for  President 
be  allowed  to  be  chosen  in  either  of  those  states  a  sinister 
light  will  be  cast  on  the  motives  which  induced  the  President 
to  hold  for  naught  the  will  of  Congress  rather  than  his  gov- 
ernment in  Louisiana  and  Arkansas." 

That  insinuation  caused  President  Lincoln  the  most  ex- 
cruciating pain.  It  was  too  base  to  be  answered  and  too 
serious  to  be  ignored.  He  could  only  refer  to  it  in  private 
conversation,  as  he  sometimes  did,  in  terms  of  deep  regret, 
but  never  with  anger  or  resentment.  The  astonishing  char- 
acter of  this  assault  upon  the  President  appears  when  it  is 
remembered  that  it  occurred  at  a  time  when  it  could  not  pos- 
sibly accomplish  and  good  and  could  not  fail  to  result  in  harm 
by  adding  immensely  to  the  perils  which  were  threatening 
the  nation's  life.  Congress  had  adjourned  and  the  veto  of 
the  Davis  Bill  was  beyond  recall.  The  President  had  been 
renominated  by  the  national  convention  of  his  party,  and  his 
re-election  was  necessary  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 
The  Confederate-favoring  forces  of  the  loyal  states  were  all 
arrayed  against  him  and  were  rapidly  gathering  into  their 
ranks  the  people  who  were  weary  of  the  war  and  had  been 
led  to  believe  that  peace  by  negotiation  and  without  further 
bloodshed  could  be  secured.  Under  this  delusion  multitudes 
of  loyal  people  were  forsaking  the  Union  party  and  uniting 
with  the  opposition,  and  the  only  possible  influence  of  the 
Wade-Davis  Manifesto  was  to  strengthen  the  opposition  to 
the  President  and  in  like  measure  increase  the  perils  of  the 
nation. 

With  heart  and  soul,  by  voice  and  pen,  I  was  struggling 
with  the  Union  forces  to  aid  in  arresting  the  tide  of  defection 
from  the  President's  supporters  when  that  denunciatory  Mani- 
festo was  published  and  was  greeted  with  wild  enthusiasm 
by  the  cohorts  of  disunion  in  all  the  loyal  states.  In  remem- 
brance I  can  feel  today  the  pain  that  rilled  my  soul  when  I 


WADE-DAVIS  MANIFESTO  497 

read  that  Manifesto  and  witnessed  its  appalling  influence  upon 
the  public  mind.  In  common  with  other  Union  workers 
throughout  the  land  I  could  not  refrain  from  crying  out,  "Oh, 
why  did  they  do  it ;  what  good  could  they  hope  to  accomplish 
by  such  methods?"  And  that  cry  became  nation-wide  and 
continued  during  the  weeks  that  followed.  How  effective  for 
evil  that  Manifesto  proved  to  be  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
within  eighteen  days  after  it  was  published  the  President  and 
the  leaders  of  his  party  had  become  convinced  that  his  defeat 
in  November  was  altogether  probable.  That  calamity  was 
averted  by  a  providential  intervention,  an  account  of  which 
appears  on  other  pages  of  this  book,  but  the  mad  revolt  from 
the  disasters  of  which  we  so  narrowly  escaped,  should  be  re- 
membered that  we  may  avoid  the  spirit  that  produced  it. 

The  extent  to  which  great  men  at  that  period  of  agitation 
and  strife  were  influenced  by  unreasoning  prejudice  and  pas- 
sion is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  many  of  our  most  dis- 
tinguished statesmen,  even  after  they  had  expressed  their  ap- 
proval of  the  President's  reconstruction  policy,  as  set  forth  in 
his  annual  message,  aligned  themselves  with  this  utterly  un- 
reasonable assault  upon  President  Lincoln  because  of  his 
faithful  and  conscientious  discharge  of  his  duty  as  Chief 
Executive  of  the  nation. 

In  view  of  all  this  it  brings  warmth  and  gladness  to  the 
heart  to  read  the  following  from  Hon.  James  M.  Ashley, 
which  forms  a  fitting  conclusion  to  this  chapter: 

"The  first  time  I  called  at  the  White  House,  after  Senator 
Wade  and  Henry  Winter  Davis  issued  their  celebrated  Mani- 
festo against  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  President,  as  he  advanced  to 
take  my  hand,  said:  'Ashley,  I  am  glad  to  see  by  the  papers 
that  you  refused  to  sign  the  Wade  and  Davis  Manifesto.' 

"  'Yes,  Mr.  President,'  I  answered,  ""I  could  not  do  that,' 
and  added,  for 

"  'Qose  as  sin  and  suffering  joined 
We  march  to  fate  abreast.' 


498    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

"It  was  a  picture  as  we  stood  thus,  my  lips  quivering  with 
emotion,  while  tears  stood  on  the  eyes  of  both.  On  many 
occasions  during  the  darkest  hours  of  our  great  conflict  men 
who  were  in  accord  were  often  in  such  close  touch  with  each 
other  that  each  could  feel  the  pulse-beat  of  the  other's  heart. 

"This  incident  tells  its  own  story.  Mr.  Lincoln  regarded 
both  Mr.  Wade  and  Mr.  Davis  as  able  and  honest  men,  and 
he  knew  they  were  my  warm  personal  friends.  He  also  knew 
that  nothing  but  a  sense  of  public  duty  could  have  separated 
me  from  them.  No  one  regretted  their  mistake  more  than  I 
did;  and,  knowing  my  close  relations  to  them,  Mr.  Lincoln 
did  not  hesitate  to  speak  to  me  of  their  mistake  in  the  kindest 
spirit." 

So  fully  did  public  sentiment  come  into  harmony  with 
President  Lincoln  that  at  the  next  and  final  session  of  this, 
the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  the  Davis  Reconstruction  Bill, 
after  a  fiery  speech  in  its  favor  by  its  author,  was  on  Febru- 
ary 2ist,  1865,  killed  by  a  vote  of  91  to  64. 


VIII 

EXTRACTS  FROM  AN  UNPUBLISHED  MANU- 
SCRIPT OF  REV.  P.  D.  GURLEY,  D.D. 

THE  manuscript  from  which  the  following  selections 
have  been  taken  was  secured  from  Doctor  Gurley's 
daughter,  Mrs.  Emma  K.  Adams,  of  Washington, 
D.  C. 

One  of  the  first  things  Abraham  Lincoln  did,  upon  enter- 
ing the  White  House  as  President,  was  to  select  a  church  and 
take  a  pew  for  his  family  and  himself.  He  decided  on  the 
New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  saying  in  after 
years,  "I  went  there  because  I  like  the  pastor,  Dr.  Gurley, 
and  because  he  preached  the  gospel  and  let  politics  alone.  I 
get  enough  politics  during  the  week."  The  intimacy  and 
mutual  admiration  which  existed  between  the  President  and 
his  pastor  is  well  known. — The  Author. 

***** 

One  morning,  as  Mr.  Lincoln's  pastor  and  intimate  friend, 
I  went  over  to  the  White  House  in  response  to  an  invitation 
from  the  President.  He  had  me  come  over  before  he  had 
his  breakfast.  The  night  before  we  had  been  together  and 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  said:  "Doctor,  you  rise  early;  so  do  I;  come 
over  tomorrow  morning  about  seven  o'clock.  We  can  talk 
for  an  hour  before  breakfast."  This  I  did,  as  before  stated, 
and  after  breakfasting  with  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  exchanging  a 
few  words  in  the  hall  with  the  President  who  was  about  to 
pass  up  to  his  office,  I  started  for  home.  As  I  passed  out  of 
the  gateway  which  leads  up  to  the  White  House  and  stepped 
on  the  street  I  was  joined  by  a  member  of  my  congregation. 

499 


500     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

"Why,  doctor,"  said  my  friend,  "it  is  not  nine  o'clock; 
what  are  you  doing  at  the  Executive  Mansion?"  To  this  I 
replied,  "Mr.  Lincoln  and  I  have  been  having  a  morning  chat." 
"On  the  war,  I  suppose?"  "Far  from  it,"  said  I.  "\Ve  have 
been  talking  about  the  state  of  the  soul  after  death.  That  is 
a  subject  of  which  Mr.  Lincoln  never  tires.  I  have  had  a 
great  many  conversations  with  him  on  the  subject.  This 
morning,  however,  I  was  a  listener  as  Mr.  Lincoln  did  all  the 

talking." 

***** 

The  day  before  Mr.  Lincoln  signed  and  issued  the  final 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  I  was  besieged  by  persons  who 
were  anxious  to  learn  something  about  the  proclamation  and 
who  believed  because  of  my  intimacy  with  Mr.  Lincoln  I  had 
been  apprised  of  its  contents.  Not  a  word  escaped  me  con- 
cerning it,  and  though  I  knew  its  contents  none  were  the  wiser 
for  my  knowledge. 

***** 

One  day  as  I  was  walking  through  the  Capitol,  I  was  joined 
by  a  gentleman  and  together  we  walked  over  to  the  senate. 
The  conversation  led  around  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  "Doctor,"  said 
the  man,  "tell  me,  is  Mr.  Lincoln  a  member  of  your  church  ?" 
"Mr.  Lincoln,"  I  answered,  "has  never  applied  for  member- 
ship. If  he  did  I  would  admit  him." 

***** 

When  Mr.  Lincoln  returned  from  Richmond,  only  a  very 
short  time  before  his  tragic  death,  he  told  me  he  was  very 
much  pleased  with  his  reception  in  that  city.  He  said  he 
never  could  forget  how  kindly  he  had  been  received.  "Why, 
Doctor,"  he  said,  "I  walked  alone  on  the  street,  and  any  one 
could  have  shot  me  from  a  second  story  window." 

***** 

One  evening  about  eight  o'clock,  Mr.  Lincoln  came  down 
the  White  House  stairs  and  found  two  or  three  of  the  em- 


EXTRACTS  FROM  AN  UNFINISHED  MS.     501 

ployees  by  the  front  door.  He  said,  "I  want  to  walk  over 
to  Secretary  Stanton's  and  would  like  to  have  one  of  you 
walk  over  with  me."  One  of  the  men  immediately  got  his 
hat  and  started  off  with  Mr.  Lincoln.  As  they  crossed  over 
Pennsylvania  Avenue,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  "I  have  received  a 
great  many  threatening  letters  lately,  but  I  don't  feel  afraid." 

"Mr.  President,"  said  his  escort,  "because  you  are  not 
afraid  is  no  evidence  you  are  free  from  danger;  many  a  life 
has  been  sacrificed  for  want  of  fear." 

"That's  so,"  said  the  President.  His  face  looked  haggard 
and  he  walked  quite  slowly.  Secretary  Stanton  lived  on  the 
north  side  of  K  street,  between  I3th  and  i4th  streets,  not  a 
great  distance  from  the  Executive  Mansion.  When  they  were 
on  the  steps  of  the  Stanton  residence,  waiting  for  the  servant 
to  answer  their  ring,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  to  his  escort:  "Mr. 
Stanton  is  sick.  I  am  going  up  to  his  room.  You  wait  for 
me  in  the  hall  here." 

At  this  time  General  Sherman's  army  was  passing  through 
the  South  and  Mr.  Lincoln  was  very  anxious  to  confer  with 
Mr.  Stanton.  He  was  upstairs  with  him  about  an  hour,  and 
when  once  more  on  the  street  he  seemed  lost  in  thought. 
Finally,  as  if  thinking  aloud  he  said:  "Senator  Harlan  is  a 
very  good  man." 

"Yes,"  said  the  escort,  "the  Senator  is  highly  spoken  of." 
No  further  conversation  took  place.  In  a  short  time  Mr. 
Harlan  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  it  is 
probable  that  his  name  was  suggested  to  the  President  by  Mr. 
Stanton  during  that  interview. 

***** 
Some  one  reported  to  Mr.  Lincoln  that  General  Joseph 
Singleton  Mosby,  of  the  Confederate  Army,  had  said  he  would 
cross  the  Potomac  River  and  attend  one  of  the  White  House 
levees.  If  he  did,  no  one  ever  knew  of  it  but  himself.  How- 
ever, one  morning  after  a  levee,  a  card  was  found  in  a  snuff- 


502     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

box  in  the  Green  Room  on  which  was  written,  "J.  S.  Mosby, 
Colonel  C.  S.  A." 

***** 

Before  the  war  broke  out,  brave  Admiral  Shufeldt,  owing 
to  the  quietness  of  things,  resigned  and  became  captain  of  a 
vessel  that  ran  from  New  York  to  Cuba.  When  the  war 
began  Mr.  Lincoln  recalled  him  to  the  navy  and  he  was  re- 
stored to  his  former  rank.  Mr.  Lincoln  said  to  him  during 
the  war,  "Shufeldt,  I  want  you  to  go  down  to  Mexico,  and 
see  if  you  can  arrange  to  have  the  Negroes  colonized  down 
there."  The  Admiral  did  as  requested,  met  with  a  very  kind 
reception  from  President  Juarez,  who  offered  him  the  land 
south  of  Mexico  for  the  purpose  Mr.  Lincoln  had  advised, 
and  an  escort  of  75,000  soldiers.  The  letters  that  passed  be- 
tween Mr.  Lincoln  and  Admiral  Shufeldt  on  this  subject  were 
said  never  to  have  been  seen  except  by  four  persons,  namely, 
Mr.  Lincoln,  Secretary  Seward,  President  Juarez  and  Admiral 
Shufeldt,  as  no  record  was  kept  of  them  owing  to  their  not 
being  placed  on  file  in  the  State  Department. 

***** 

One  day  a  Cabinet  officer  and  I  had  been  spending  an  hour 
with  Mr.  Lincoln.  When  the  time  came  for  us  to  depart  the 
Secretary  said:  "Mr.  President,  I  wish  you  would  describe 
the  proper  manner  of  telling  a  story.  How  is  it  yours  are  so 
interesting?" 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "there  are  two  ways  of  relating 
a  story.  If  you  have  an  auditor  who  has  the  time,  and  is 
inclined  to  listen,  lengthen  it  out,  pour  it  out  slowly  as  if  from 
a  jug.  If  you  have  a  poor  listener,  hasten  it,  shorten  it,  shoot 
it  out  of  a  pop-gun." 

***** 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  very  much  impressed  with  an  address 
made  over  the  coffin  of  his  little  son  Willie.  The  day  after 
the  funeral  he  wrote  me  a  note  and  asked  me  to  write  it  out 
for  him  so  he  could  give  copies  to  his  friends.  He  often 


EXTRACTS  FROM  AN  UNFINISHED  MS.     503 

spoke  to  me  of  how  he  liked  to  read  it  over.  This  address 
was  as  follows:  "Sad  and  solemn  is  the  occasion  that  brings 
us  here  today.  A  dark  shadow  of  affliction  has  fallen  upon 
this  habitation  and  upon  the  hearts  of  its  inmates.  The  news 
thereof  has  already  gone  forth  to  the  extremities  of  the  coun- 
try. The  nation  has  heard  it  with  deep  and  tender  emotion. 
The  eye  of  the  nation  is  moistened  with  tears  as  it  turns  today 
to  the  Presidential  mansion.  The  heart  of  the  nation  sym- 
pathizes with  its  chief  magistrate  while  to  the  unprecedented 
weight  of  civil  care  which  presses  upon  him  is  added  the 
burden  of  this  great  domestic  sorrow,  and  the  prayers  of  the 
nation  ascend  to  heaven  on  his  behalf  and  on  behalf  of  his 
weeping  family  that  God's  grace  may  be  sufficient  for  them, 
and  that  in  this  hour  of  sore  bereavement  and  trial  they  may 
have  the  presence  and  succor  of  Him  who  said:  'Come  unto 
Me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden  and  I  will  give  you 
rest.'  Oh,  that  they  may  be  enabled  to  lay  their  heads  upon 
His  infinite  bosom  and  find,  as  many  other  smitten  ones  have 
found,  that  He  is  their  truest  refuge  and  strength  and  a  very 
present  help  in  trouble. 

"The  beloved  youth  whose  death  we  now  and  here  lament 
was  a  child  of  bright  intelligence  and  of  peculiar  promise.  He 
possessed  many  excellent  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  which 
greatly  endeared  him  not  only  to  the  family  circle  but  to  all 
his  youthful  acquaintances  and  friends.  His  mind  was  active, 
he  was  inquisitive  and  conscientious;  his  disposition  was 
amiable  and  affectionate.  His  impulses  kind  and  generous; 
his  words  and  manners  were  gentle  and  attractive.  It  is  easy 
to  see  how  a  child  thus  endowed  could,  in  the  course  of  eleven 
years  entwine  himself  around  the  hearts  of  those  who  knew 
him  best ;  nor  can  we  wonder  that  the  grief  of  his  affectionate 
mother  today  is  like  that  of  Rachel  weeping  for  her  children 
and  refusing  to  be  comforted,  because  they  were  not. 

"His  sickness  was  an  attack  of  fever  threatening  from 
the  first  and  painfully  productive  of  mental  wandering  and 
delirium.  All  that  the  tenderest  parental  care  and  watching 


504     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

and  the  most  assiduous  and  skillful  medical  treatment  could 
do  was  done,  and  though  at  times  even  in  the  last  stages  of 
the  disease  his  symptoms  were  regarded  as  favorable  and  in- 
spired a  faint  and  wavering  hope  of  his  recovery,  still  the 
insidious  malady  pursued  its  course  unchecked,  and  on  Thurs- 
day last,  at  the  hour  of  five  in  the  afternoon,  the  golden  bowl 
was  broken  and  the  emancipated  spirit  returned  to  the  God  who 
gave  it.  That  departure  was  a  sore  bereavement  to  parents 
and  brothers,  and  while  they  weep  they  also  rejoice  in  the 
confidence  that  their  loss  is  his  gain,  for  they  believe  as  well 
they  may,  that  he  has  gone  to  Him  who  said:  'Suffer  little 
children  to  come  unto  Me  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven* ;  and  that  now  with  kindred  spirits, 
and  with  a  little  brother  he  never  saw  on  earth,  he  beholds 
the  glory  and  sings  the  praises  of  the  Redeemer.  Blessed  be 
God! 

"  'There  is  a  world  above 
Where  sorrow  is  unknown, 
A  long  eternity  of  love 
Formed  for  the  good  alone. 
And  faith  beholds  the  dying  here, 
Translated  to  that  glorious  sphere.' 

"It  is  well  for  us  and  very  comforting  on  such  an  occa- 
sion as  this  to  get  a  clear  and  scriptural  view  of  the  Provi- 
dence of  God.  His  kingdom  ruleth  over  all.  All  those  events 
which  in  any  wise  affect  our  condition  and  happiness  are  in 
His  hands  and  at  His  disposal.  Disease  and  death  are  His 
messengers;  they  go  forth  at  His  bidding  and  their  fearful 
work  is  limited  or  extended  according  to  the  good  pleasure 
of  His  will.  Not  a  sparrow  falls  to  the  ground  without  His 
care  much  less  one  of  the  human  family,  for  we  are  of  more 
value  than  many  sparrows.  These  bereaved  parents  may  be 
sure  that  their  affliction  has  not  come  forth  of  the  dust  nor 
has  their  trouble  sprung  out  of  the  ground.  It  is  the  well- 


c3 

'O 

«§ 

W^ 

Cj      O 

e  ^ 
s  8 


o 


O  ~.  o 
O  Q  c 
2  -• 


.s 

c   a 
• 


EXTRACTS  FROM  AN  UNFINISHED  MS.     505 

ordered  procedure  of  their  Father  and  their  God.  A  mysteri- 
ous dealing  they  may  consider  it;  but  still  it  is  His  dealing 
and  while  they  mourn  He  is  saying  to  them,  as  the  Lord 
Jesus  once  said  to  His  disciples  when  they  were  perplexed: 
'What  I  do  ye  know  not  now,  but  ye  shall  know  hereafter.' 
What  we  need  in  the  hour  of  trial,  and  what  we  should  seek 
by  earnest  prayer  is  confidence  in  Him  who  sees  the  end  from 
the  beginning  and  doeth  all  things  well.  Let  us  bow  in  His 
presence  with  an  humble  and  teachable  spirit;  let  us  be  still 
and  know  that  He  is  God;  let  us  acknowledge  His  hand  and 
hear  His  voice;  inquire  after  His  will  and  seek  His  Holy 
Spirit,  as  our  counsellor  and  guide,  and  all  will  be  well  in 
the  end.  In  His  light  shall  we  see  light;  by  His  grace  our 
sorrows  will  be  sanctified  and  made  a  blessing  to  our  souls, 
and  by  and  by  we  shall  have  occasion  to  say  with  blended 
gratitude  and  rejoicing,  'It  is  good  for  us  that  we  have  been 
afflicted.' " 

Soon  after  this  the  President  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  presented 
me  with  a  beautiful  ebony  cane;  the  head  was  six  inches  in 
length,  of  small  gold  roses,  and  the  following  was  engraved 
upon  it:  "Rev.  P.  D.  Gurley,  D.D.,  from  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Abraham  Lincoln,  1862."  It  was  in  February,  1862,  that 
this  address  was  delivered  in  the  room  in  which  Willie  died 
and  from  which  he  was  buried.  On  account  of  the  nature 
of  the  disease  (varioloid)  his  funeral  was  private  as  possible. 
I  was  with  the  President  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  often  during  these 
dark  hours. 

Willie's  death  was  a  great  blow  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  coming 
as  it  did  in  the  midst  of  the  war,  when  his  burdens  seemed 
already  greater  than  he  could  bear.  The  little  boy  was  always 
interested  in  the  war  and  used  to  go  down  to  the  White  House 
stables  and  read  the  battle  news  to  the  employees  and  talk 
over  the  outcome.  These  men  all  loved  him  and  thought, 
for  one  of  his  years,  he  was  most  unusual.  When  he  was 
dying  he  said  to  me,  "Doctor  Gurley,  I  have  six  one  dollar 
gold  pieces  in  my  bank  over  there  on  the  mantel.  Please 


506     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

send  them  to  the  missionaries  for  me."  After  his  death  those 
six  one  dollar  pieces  were  shown  to  my  Sunday  School  and 
the  scholars  were  informed  of  Willie's  request.  He  died  in 
what  was  always  called  the  "Prince  of  Wales  Room,"  as  the 
prince  occupied  it  when  visiting  President  Buchanan. 

After  his  son's  death,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  greatly  annoyed 
by  the  report  that  he  was  interested  in  spiritualism.  He  told 
me  he  thought  the  report  originated  from  the  fact  that  a 
medium  had  chanced  to  call  on  Mrs.  Lincoln.  "A  simple 
faith  in  God  is  good  enough  for  me,  and  beyond  that  I  do 
not  concern  myself  very  much,"  he  added. 

Willie  was  laid  away  in  Oak  Hill  cemetery,  Georgetown, 
D.  C.  Later,  when  his  father's  body  was  taken  to  Springfield, 
the  child's  remains  were  also  taken.  At  a  little  town  where 
the  funeral  train  stopped  for  coal,  some  children  came  to  the 
car  and  handed  up  a  wreath,  evidently  the  work  of  their  own 
little  hands,  and  one  of  them  said  as  the  flowers  were  ac- 
cepted: "We  knew  every  one  would  give  Mr.  Lincoln  flowers, 
so  we  made  this  wreath  for  little  Willie's  coffin." 

In  Harrisburg,  an  old  colored  man  approached  the  funeral 
train  as  it  came  to  a  stop  in  the  station.  He  was  trembling, 
and  as  he  came  to  the  car  he  took  off  his  hat,  bowed  his 
head,  and  while  the  tears  streamed  down  his  face,  exclaimed: 
"Massa  Lincoln's  dead,  Massa  Lincoln's  dead,  but  de  Lord 
spared  him  till  he  could  set  de  poor  colored  people  free !" 

To  me  the  most  touching  incident  in  connection  with  that 
never-to-be-forgotten  journey  to  Springfield,  with  the  remains, 
occurred  while  we  were  in  Philadelphia.  An  old  colored 
woman  lamenting  loudly  for  the  dead  President  was  outside 
Independence  Hall  where  the  remains  lay  in  state.  She  joined 
the  throng  who  were  slowly  passing  through  to  take  a  last 
look  at  our  beloved  chieftain.  As  she  approached  the  casket 
she  wept  aloud,  crying,  "Oh,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, are  you  dead?" 

The  President  is  dead!  but  in  my  fancy  I  can  yet  hear 
his  voice,  which  was  of  moderate  pitch.  It  was  always  con- 


THE  VILLAGE   BLACKSMITH 

The  engraving  from  which  this  is  copied  hung  in  the  room  where  President 
Lincoln  died.  Copies  of  the  picture  were  so  fully  picked  up  that  it  was 
after  thirty  years'  search  that  the  copy  now  in  Dr.  Ervin  Chapman's 
collection  was  secured. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  AN  UNFINISHED  MS.     507 

versational  and  remarkable  for  its  kindly  tones.  At  times 
he  used  expressive  gestures,  but  he  never  allowed  his  voice  to 
reach  a  climax.  And  his  eyes!  During  1865,  those  sad  eyes 
were  often  bloodshot  from  loss  of  sleep.  He  used  to  say, 
"While  others  are  asleep  I  think,"  and  then  sadly  add,  "Night 
is  the  only  time  I  have  to  think." 


THE  CENOTAPH 

And  so  they  buried  Lincoln?    Strange  and  vain! 

Has  any  creature  thought  of  Lincoln  hid 

In  any  vault,  'neath  any  coffin-lid, 
In  all  the  years  since  that  wild  Spring  of  pain? 
'Tis  false, — he  never  in  the  grave  hath  lain, 

You  could  not  bury  him  although  you  slid 

Upon  his  clay  the  Cheops  pyramid 
Or  heaped  it  with  the  Rocky  Mountain  chain. 
They  slew  themselves ;  they  but  set  Lincoln  free. 

In  all  the  earth  his  great  heart  beats  as  strong, 
Shall  beat  while  pulses  throb  to  chivalry 

And  burn  with  hate  of  tyranny  and  wrong. 

Whoever  will  may  find  him,  anywhere 

Save  in  the  tomb.    Not  there, — he  is  not  there ! 

— James  T.  McKay. 


PART  III 


The  election  has  placed  our  President  beyond  the 
pale  of  human  envy  or  human  harm,  as  he  is  above 
the  pale  of  human  ambition.  Henceforth  all  men 
will  come  to  see  him  as  we  have  seen  him — a  true, 
loyal,  patient,  patriotic,  and  benevolent  man.  Hav- 
ing no  longer  any  motive  to  malign  or  injure  him, 
detraction  will  cease,  and  Abraham  Lincoln  will  take 
his  place  with  Washington  and  Franklin  and  Jeffer- 
son and  Adams  and  Jackson — among  the  benefac- 
tors of  the  country  and  of  the  human  race. — Tribute 
of  William  M.  Seward. 


LED  BY  THE  SPIRIT 

ISAAC  and  Sarah  Harvey,  very  devout  Quakers,  resided 
in  Clinton  County,  Ohio,  about  fifty  miles  northwest 
of  Cincinnati.  They  were  ardent  abolitionists  and  Isaac 
was  so  obedient  to  "the  movings  of  the  Spirit"  that  his  neigh- 
bors, who  held  him  in  reverence  and  esteem,  regarded  him  as 
very  eccentric  in  some  .of  his  religious  convictions  and  con- 
duct. In  1868  Mrs.  Nellie  Blessing-Eyster,  who  now  resides 
in  Berkeley,  California,  visited  the  Harveys  and  received 
from  Isaac,  who  had  become  blind,  an  account  of  an  inter- 
view with  President  Lincoln  in  September,  1862.  The  story 
as  told  by  Mrs.  Eyster  is  here  published  by  her  permission 
and  is  as  follows: 

"Folding  his  thin  hands,  his  face  wearing  an  expression 
of  sweet  gravity,  and  his  words  coming  slowly  as  if  he  were 
weighing  the  value  of  each,  he  said: 

'  'I  will  answer  thy  question.  My  quiet  life  has  known 
few  storms.  I  have  loved  God  as  my  first,  best  and  dearest 
friend,  and  He  has  ever  dealt  most  tenderly  with  me.  During 
the  first  years  of  the  great  rebellion,  when  I  read  and  heard 
of  the  condition  of  the  poor  crushed  Negroes,  I  tried  to  think 
it  was  a  cunning  device  of  bad  men  to  create  greater  enmity 
between  the  North  and  the  South ;  but  when  I  read  Lincoln's 
speeches,  I  thought  so  good  and  wise  a  man  could  not  be 
deceived,  and  then  I  resolved  to  go  and  see  for  myself.  At 
one  of  our  First-day  meetings  I  spoke  of  my  intention,  but 
although  the  brethren  felt  as  I  did  upon  the  subject  they 

5" 


512     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

said  it  was  rash  for  me  to  expose  my  life,  for  I  could  do  no 
good.  Nevertheless  I  went,  traveling  on  horseback  through 
most  of  the  Southland. 

"  'Often  my  life  was  in  danger  from  guerrillas,  but  there 
was  always  an  unseen  arm  between  me  and  the  actual  foe, 
and  in  a  few  weeks  I  returned,  saying  the  half  had  not  been 
told  of  the  sufferings  of  these  poor,  despised,  yet  God-fearing 
and  God-trusting  people.' 

"Here  his  voice  trembled  with  the  overflow  of  pity  of 
which  his  heart  seemed  the  fountain. 

"  'That  summer/  he  continued,  'I  plowed  and  reaped  and 
gathered  in  my  harvest  as  usual.  Day  by  day  I  prayed,  at 
home  and  in  the  field,  that  God  would  show  His  delivering 
power  as  he  had  to  the  children  of  Israel.  Nothing  seemed 
to  come  in  answer.  Occasionally  during  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  news  reached  us  that  battles  had  been  fought  by  the 
Northern  men  and  victories  won,  but  still  the  poor  colored 
people  were  not  let  go. 

'  'One  day  while  plowing  I  heard  a  voice,  whether  inside 
me  or  outside  of  me  I  know  not,  but  I  was  awake.  It  said: 
"Go  thou  and  see  the  President."  I  answered:  "Yea,  Lord, 
Thy  servant  heareth."  And  unhitching  my  plow,  I  went  at 
once  to  the  house  and  said  to  mother:  "Wilt  thou  go  with  me 
to  Washington  to  see  the  President?" 

"  '  "Who  sends  thee?"  she  asked. 

"  '  "The  Lord,"  I  answered. 

"  '  "Where  thou  goest  I  will  go,"  said  mother,  and  began 
to  make  ready. 

"  'My  friends  called  me  crazed ;  some  said  that  this  trip 
would  be  more  foolish  than  the  first,  and  that  I,  who  had 
never  been  to  Washington  and  knew  no  one  in  it,  could  not 
gain  access  to  the  great  President. 

"  'The  Lord  knew  I  did  not  want  to  be  foolhardy,  but  I 
had  that  on  my  mind  which  I  must  tell  President  Lincoln, 
and  I  had  faith  that  He  who  feedeth  the  sparrows  would 
direct  me. 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  513 

"  'We  left  here  on  the  i7th  of  Ninth  month,  1862,  the  first 
time  mother  had  been  fifty  miles  from  home  in  sixty  years. 
It  was  a  pleasant  morning.  Before  we  left  the  house  we 
prayed  that  God  would  direct  our  wandering,  or,  if  He  saw 
best,  direct  us  to  return.  Part  of  our  journey  was  by  stage. 
Every  one  looked  at  and  spoke  to  us  kindly.  Oh,  God's  world 
is  beautiful  when  we  see  the  invisible  in  it. 

'  'We  got  to  Washington  the  next  evening.  It  was  about 
early  candle  light,  and  there  was  so  much  confusion  at  the 
depot  and  on  the  street  that  mother  clung  to  my  arm  saying: 
"Oh,  Isaac,  we  ought  not  to  have  come  here!  It  looks  like 
Babylon!" 

'  "But  the  Lord  will  help  us  if  we  have  faith  that  we  are 
doing  His  will,"  I  replied,  and  we  walked  away  from  the  cars. 

'  'Under  a  lamp-post  there  stood  a  noble-looking  man, 
reading  a  letter.  I  stepped  before  him  and  said:  "Good  friend, 
wilt  thou  tell  us  where  to  find  President  Lincoln?" 

'  'He  looked  us  all  over  before  he  spoke.  We  were  neat 
and  clean,  and  soon  his  face  got  bright  and  smiling,  and  he 
asked  us  a  few  plain  questions.  I  told  him  we  were  Friends 
from  Ohio  who  had  come  all  of  these  weary  miles  to  say  a 
few  words  with  President  Lincoln,  because  the  Lord  had 
sent  us. 

'  'He  nodded  his  head  and  said,  "I  understand."  Then  he 
took  us  to  a  large  house  called  Willard's  Hotel,  and  up  to  a 
little  room  away  from  all  the  noise. 

"Stay  here,"  he  said,  "and  I  will  see  when  the  President 
can  admit  you." 

'  'He  was  gone  a  long  time,  but  meanwhile  a  young  man 
brought  us  up  a  nice  supper,  which  mother  said  was  very 
hospitable  in  him,  and  when  the  gentleman  returned  he  handed 
me  a  slip  of  paper  upon  which  was  written,  "Admit  the  bearer 
to  the  chamber  of  the  President  at  9:30  o'clock  tomorrow 
morning."  My  heart  was  so  full  of  gratitude  that  I  could  not 
express  my  thanksgiving  in  words.  That  night  was  as  peace- 
ful as  those  at  home  in  the  meadows. 


514     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

"  'The  next  morning  the  kind  gentleman  came  and  con- 
ducted us  to  the  house  nearby  in  which  the  President  lived. 
Every  one  whom  we  met  seemed  to  know  our  conductor  and 
took  off  their  hats  to  him.  I  was  glad  that  he  had  so  many 
friends.  At  the  door  of  the  big  porch  he  left  us,  promising 
to  return  in  an  hour.  "You  must  make  your  talk  with  him 
brief,"  he  said.  "A  big  battle  has  just  been  fought  at  Antie- 
tam.  The  North  is  victorious,  but  at  least  12,000  men  have 
been  killed  or  wounded,  and  the  President,  like  the  rest  of  us, 
is  in  great  trouble." 

"  'I  did  not  speak.  I  could  not.  The  room  into  which 
we  were  first  shown  was  full  of  people,  all  waiting,  we  sup- 
posed, to  see  the  President.  "Ah,  Isaac,  we  shall  not  get  near 
him  today.  See  the  anxious  faces  who  come  before  us," 
whispered  mother. 

"  '  "As  God  wills,"    I  said. 

"  'It  was  a  sad  place  to  be  in,  truly.  There  were  soldiers' 
wives  and  wounded  soldiers  sitting  around  the  large  room, 
and  not  a  soul  but  from  whom  joy  and  peace  seemed  to  have 
fled.  Some  were  weeping;  soldiers  with  clanking  spurs  and 
short  swords  were  rapidly  walking  through  the  halls;  men 
with  newspapers  in  their  hands  were  reading  the  news  from 
the  seat  of  war,  and  the  President's  house  seemed  the  center 
of  the  world.  I  felt  what  a  solemn  thing  it  must  be  to  have 
so  much  power.' 

"Here  Uncle  Isaac's  voice  got  husky  and  tears  fell  from  his 
sightless  eyes  upon  his  wrinkled  hands.  I  reverently  brushed 
them  off,  and  in  a  few  minutes  he  continued: 

'  'When  the  summons  came  for  us  to  enter — it  was  an  ad- 
vance of  the  others — my  knees  smote  together,  and  for  an 
instant  I  tottered.  "Keep  heart,  Isaac,"  mother  whispered,  and 
we  went  forward.  I  fear  thou  wilt  think  me  vain  if  I  tell  what 
followed.' 

"  'No  fear,  Uncle  Isaac.     Please  proceed.' 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  515 

"  'It  seemed  so  wonderful  that,  for  a  moment,  I  could  not 
realize  it.  To  think  that  such  humble  people  as  we  were  should 
be  there  in  the  actual  presence  of  the  greatest  and  best  man 
in  the  world,  and  to  be  received  by  him  as  kindly  as  if  he 
were  our  own  son,  made  me  feel  very  strange.  He  shook 
hands  with  us  and  put  his  chair  between  us.  Oh,  how  I  hon- 
ored the  good  man !  But  I  said : 

" '  "Wilt  thou  pardon  me  that  I  do  not  remove  my  hat?" 
Then  he  smiled,  and  his  grave  face  lit  up  as  he  said,  "Cer- 
tainly. I  understand  it  all."  The  dear,  dear  man' — and  again 
Uncle  Isaac  stopped  as  though  to  revel,  as  a  devout  nun  counts 
her  beads,  in  the  memory  of  that  interview. 

"But  I  was  impatient.  'What  then,  sir?'  The  answer 
came  with  a  solemnity  indescribable.  My  curiosity  and  his 
reminiscence  were  not  in  harmony. 

'  'Of  that  half  hour  it  does  not  become  me  to  speak.  I 
will  think  of  it  gratefully  throughout  eternity.  At  last  we 
had  to  go.  The  President  took  a  hand  of  each  of  us  in  his, 
saying,  "I  thank  you  for  this  visit.  May  God  bless  you." 
Was  there  ever  greater  condescension  than  that?  Just  then 
I  asked  him  if  he  would  object  to  writing  just  a  line  or  two, 
certifying  that  I  had  fulfilled  my  mission,  so  that  I  could 
show  it  to  the  council  at  home.  He  sat  down  to  his  table.  . 

"  'Wilt  thou  open  the  drawer  of  that  old  secretary  in  the 
corner  behind  thee,  and  hand  me  a  little  box  from  therein?' 

"Up  to  that  moment  I  had  not  noticed  my  surroundings. 
The  old-fashioned  furniture  was  oiled  and  rubbed,  and  a  large 
secretary  which  belonged  to  the  Colonial  period  was  conspic- 
uous. I  obeyed  instructions,  and  soon  placed  in  the  old  man's 
now  trembling  fingers  a  small  square  tin  box  which  was  as 
bright  as  silver.  Between  two  layers  of  cotton  was  a  folded 
paper,  already  yellow.  The  words  were  verbatim  these: 

"  'I  take  pleasure  in  asserting  that  I  have  had  profitable 
intercourse  with  friend  Isaac  Harvey  and  his  good  wife,  Sarah 


5i6     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Harvey.     May  the   Lord  comfort  them  as  they  have   sus- 
tained me. 

"ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
"Sept.  19,  1862."  1 

"  'Uncle  Isaac !'  I  exclaimed.  'I  can  scarcely  realize  that 
away  off  here  in  the  backwoods  I  should  read  such  words 
traced  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  own  hands.  How  singular !' 

"  'Not  more  so  than  the  whole  event  was  to  us,  dear  child, 
from  the  first  to  the  last.  The  following  Second-day  the  pre- 
liminary Proclamation  of  Emancipation  was  issued.  Thank 
God!  Thank  God!' 

"It  is  not  possible  to  depict  the  devout  fervor  of  the  old 
patriarch's  thanksgiving. 

"  'Our  new  friend  was  waiting  at  the  outside  door  when 
we  came  out.  I  showed  him  the  testimonial.  He  nodded  his 
head  affirmatively  and  said,  "It  is  well." 

"  'We  soon  left  Washington,  for  our  work  was  done  and 
I  longed  for  the  quiet  of  home.  Our  friend  took  us  to  the 
omnibus  which  conveyed  us  to  the  cars,  having  treated  us 
with  a  gracious  hospitality  which  I  can  never  forget.  May 
the  Lord  care  for  him  as  he  cared  for  us.' 

"  'Did  you  not  learn  is  name?'  I  inquired,  wondering  what 
official  in  those  days  would  have  bestowed  so  much  time  and 
courtesy  upon  these  unpretending  folk. 

"  'Yes,  he  is  high  in  the  esteem  of  men  and  they  call  him 
Salmon  P.  Chase.'  " 

In  connection  with  this  remarkable  story,  the  validity  of 
which  cannot  be  questioned,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
preliminary  Emancipation  Proclamation  issued  a  few  days 
after  the  visit  of  Isaac  and  Sarah  Harvey  as  stated  on  pre- 
ceding pages  was  submitted  to  the  Cabinet  by  President  Lin- 

1  In  a  letter  to  H.  W.  W.,  Jesse  Harvey,  Isaac's  son,  thus  accounts  for 
this  precious  document :  "We  kept  the  writing  given  by  A.  Lincoln  for 
years.  It  was  borrowed  some  times,  and  finally  was  so  soiled  we  con- 
cluded it  would  not  be  of  interest  to  any  one,  and  destroyed  it  with  other 
old  papers." 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  517 

coin  nearly  two  months  before,  and  was  at  that  time  with- 
held from  publication  by  the  President  that  it  might  be  issued 
in  connection  with  the  announcement  of  a  great  victory  in  the 
field.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  by  his  interview  with  the 
Harveys,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  encouraged  and  strengthened  in 
his  purposes  to  take  that  important  step. 

A  MOTHER'S  PLEA 

During  the  dark  days  of  the  Rebellion  a  telegram  from  the 
front  was  sent  to  a  mother  living  in  Minnesota,  informing 
her  that  her  youngest  son,  who  had  recently  enlisted,  had  been 
court-martialed  and  sentenced  to  be  shot  for  sleeping  while 
on  picket  duty.  It  was  not  the  first  heartbreaking  message 
she  had  received  from  the  front  during  the  three  years  of 
bloody  strife  and  she  had,  by  severe  discipline,  been  chastened 
into  a  spirit  of  patriotic  and  religious  submission  to  crushing 
bereavement.  But  this,  as  she  believed,  was  beyond  the  limit 
of  righteous  submission,  and  with  the  heroism  which  char- 
acterized the  womanhood  of  those  days,  she  exclaimed,  "They 
shall  not  shoot  him,"  and  started  for  Washington. 

There  were  others  there  when  she  was  ushered  into  Pres- 
ident Lincoln's  room,  but  she  seemed  unmindful  of  their 
presence.  With  perfect  self-control,  but  with  intense  earnest- 
ness, she  briefly  recited  her  story  to  the  great  chieftain  and 
calmly  and  confidently  awaited  his  reply. 

But  when  she  discovered  by  his  manner  that  he  was  dis- 
inclined to  grant  her  request  for  her  boy's  pardon,  she  fell 
upon  her  knees  at  his  feet,  and  seizing  his  hands  in  an  agon- 
izing mother's  convulsive  grasp,  she  cried: 

"Mr.  President,  I  cannot,  I  will  not  be  denied !  You  must 
save  my  boy !  His  father  and  three  brothers  have  given  their 
lives  to  save  the  nation.  Three  have  fallen  on  the  field  of 
battle  and  one,  mortally  wounded,  died  in  the  hospital.  Then 
my  youngest  and  only  remaining  son,  although  too  young  to 
be  liable  to  draft,  when  the  last  of  his  brothers  fell,  promptly 


5i8     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

took  his  place.  When  almost  exhausted  from  three  days  and 
nights  of  a  toilsome  march,  he  was  placed  on  picket  duty, 
and  because  he  was  found  sleeping  at  his  post,  they  intend 
to  shoot  him  like  a  dog!  Mr.  President,  you  must  not  permit 
them  to  do  it.  You  must  not,  you  will  not  permit  my  brave, 
heroic  boy  thus  to  be  cruelly  assassinated  just  because  his 
youthful  form  was  unequal  to  the  burdens  put  upon  him! 
Remember  his  fallen  father  and  brothers,  remember  your  own 
son,  and  save  my  boy!" 

Those  who  witnessed  the  scene  were  deeply  moved  and 
were  delighted  when  they  saw  the  tender-hearted  President 
press  a  handkerchief  to  his  tearful  eyes  that  he  might  see  to 
write  and  sign  the  brave  young  soldier's  pardon. 

COTJRT  IN  A  COEN-FIEID 

The  late  Harvey  Lee  Ross  of  Oakland,  California,  was 
one  of  my  true  friends,  and  was  always  happy  to  converse 
about  Abraham  Lincoln,  whom  he  had  known  quite  intimately 
during  his  residence  in  Illinois.  One  of  the  many  pleasing 
Lincoln  stories  he  related  to  me  is  the  following: 

"I  had  a  quarter  section  of  land,  two  miles  south  of 
Macomb,  that  came  to  me  from  my  father's  estate.  It  was  a 
fine  quarter,  but  there  was  a  little  defect  in  the  title,  which 
could  be  remedied  by  the  evidence  of  a  man  named  Hagerty, 
who  lived  six  miles  west  of  Springfield  and  who  knew  the 
facts  I  wished  to  prove.  I  had  noticed  in  the  papers  that 
court  was  in  session  at  Springfield,  and  as  court  convened 
but  twice  a  year  I  immediately  started  for  that  place,  which 
was  sixty  miles  from  my  home.  I  found  my  witness  and 
took  him  with  me.  On  arriving  at  Springfield,  we  went 
directly  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  office,  which  was  over  a  store  on  the 
west  side  of  the  square.  I  think  the  office  was  about  fourteen 
feet  square  and  contained  two  tables,  two  bookcases  and  four 
or  five  chairs,  while  the  floor  was  perfectly  bare.  I  told  Mr. 
Lincoln  my  business  and  showed  him  my  title  papers,  which 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  519 

he  looked  over  and  then  remarked  to  me :  'I  am  sorry  to  have 
to  tell  you  that  you  are  a  little  too  late,  for  this  court  ad- 
journed this  morning  and  does  not  convene  again  for  six 
months,  and  Judge  Thomas  has  gone  home.  He  lives  on  his 
farm  a  mile  east  of  the  public  square,  but,'  said  he,  'we  will 
go  and  see  him  and  see  if  anything  can  be  done  for  you.'  _ 

"I  told  him  I  would  get  a  carriage  and  we  would  drive 
out,  but  he  said,  'No ;  I  can  walk  if  you  can.'  I  said  I  would 
just  as  soon  walk  as  ride,  and  before  we  started  he  pulled 
off  his  coat  and  laid  it  on  a  chair,  taking  from  the  pocket  a 
large  bandana  silk  handkerchief  to  wipe  the  perspiration  from 
his  face,  as  it  was  a  very  warm  day  in  August.  He  struck 
off  across  the  public  square  in  his  shirt  sleeves  with  the  red 
handkerchief  in  one  hand  and  my  bundle  of  papers  in  the 
other,  while  my  witness  and  I  followed. 

"We  soon  came  to  Judge  Thomas's  residence,  which  was 
a  one-story  frame  house.  Mr.  Lincoln  knocked  at  the  door — 
at  that  time  there  were  no  doorbells — and  the  judge's  wife 
came  to  the  door.  Mr.  Lincoln  asked  if  the  judge  was  at 
home  and  she  replied  that  he  had  gone  to  the  north  part  of 
the  farm,  where  they  had  a  tenant  house,  to  help  his  men 
put  up  a  corncrib.  She  said  if  we  went  the  main  road  it 
would  be  about  a  half  mile,  but  we  could  cut  across  the  corn- 
field and  it  would  not  be  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  Mr. 
Lincoln  said  if  she  would  show  us  the  path  we  would  take 
the  short  cut,  so  she  came  out  of  the  house  and  showed  us 
where  the  path  struck  off  across  the  field  from  their  barn. 
We  followed  this  path,  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  lead,  and  the  wit- 
ness and  I  following  in  Indian  file,  and  soon  came  to  where 
the  judge  and  his  men  were  raising  a  log  house,  about  12  by 
20  feet  in  size,  which  was  to  serve  as  a  corncrib  and  hog- 
house.  Mr.  Lincoln  told  Judge  Thomas  how  I  had  come 
from  Fulton  county  and  brought  my  witness  to  town  just 
after  court  had  adjourned,  and  said  he  thought  he  would  come 
out  and  see  if  anything  could  be  done.  The  judge  looked 
over  the  title  papers  and  stated  he  guessed  they  could  fix  it 


520     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

up,  so  he  swore  my  witness,  with  whom  he  was  acquainted, 
and  procuring  a  pen  and  ink  from  his  tenant  fixed  the  papers. 

"The  judge  and  all  the  balance  of  us  were  in  our  shirt 
sleeves,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  remarked  to  the  judge  that  it  was 
a  kind  of  shirt-sleeved  court. 

"  'Yes,'  replied  the  judge,  'a  shirt-sleeved  court  in  a  corn- 
field.' After  the  business  had  been  transacted,  Mr.  Lincoln 
asked  Judge  Thomas  if  he  did  not  want  some  help  in  rolling 
up  the  logs,  and  the  judge  replied  that  there  were  two  logs 
that  were  pretty  heavy  and  he  would  like  to  have  us  help 
roll  them  up.  So  before  we  left  we  helped  roll  the  logs  up, 
Mr.  Lincoln  steering  one  end  and  the  judge  the  other.  I 
offered  to  pay  the  judge  for  taking  the  deposition  of  my  wit- 
ness, but  he  said  he  guessed  I  had  helped  with  the  raising 
enough  to  pay  for  that  and  would  take  nothing  for  his  work. 
When  we  got  back  to  Lincoln's  office  in  town  I  think  we  had 
walked  at  least  three  miles.  Mr.  Lincoln  put  my  papers  in 
a  large  envelope  with  the  name  'Stuart  &  Lincoln'  printed  at 
the  top.  'Now/  said  he,  'when  you  go  home  put  those  papers 
on  record  and  you  will  have  a  good  title  to  your  land.' 

"I  took  out  my  pocketbook  to  pay  him  and  supposed  he 
would  charge  me  about  $10,  as  I  knew  he  was  always  mod- 
erate in  his  charges.  'Now,  Mr.  Lincoln/  said  I,  'how  much 
shall  I  pay  you  for  this  work  and  the  long  walk  through 
the  hot  sun  and  dust?'  He  paused  for  a  moment  and  took 
the  big  silk  handkerchief  and  wiped  the  perspiration  off  that 
was  running  down  his  face,  and  said:  'I  guess  I  will  not 
charge  you  anything  for  that.  I  will  let  it  go  on  the  old 
score/  When  he  said  that  it  broke  me  all  up,  and  I  could 
not  keep  the  tears  from  running  down  my  face,  for  I  could 
recall  many  instances  where  he  had  been  so  good  and  kind 
to  me  when  I  was  carrying  the  mail;  then  for  him  to  say 
he  would  charge  me  nothing  for  this  work  was  more  kind- 
ness than  I  could  stand.  I  suppose  what  he  meant  by  the  old 
score  was  that  I  had  occasionally  helped  him  in  his  store  and 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  521 

post  office  and  my  father  had  assisted  him  some  when  he  got 
the  post  office." 

WORLD-WIDE  FAME 

"Several  years  after  Lincoln's  death  (1874)  the  writer, 
then  a  student  in  Germany,  was  traveling  in  Switzerland. 
Arriving  early  one  morning  at  the  little  village  of  Thusis,  at 
the  northern  end  of  the  Via  Mala,  he  entered  an  inn  for 
breakfast.  As  he  seated  himself  at  a  table  he  was  surprised 
and  delighted  to  notice  hanging  on  a  wall  directly  in  front 
of  him,  a  fine  engraving  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

"It  was  like  meeting  an  old  friend  and  so  far  away  from 
America,  too,  in  that  little  place  among  the  Alps,  at  the  high 
mountains  which  are  always  covered  with  snow.  The  first 
thought  was  here  is  a  Swiss  gentleman  who  has  lived  in  the 
United  States  and  has  brought  this  picture  back  home  with 
him.  So  when  the  landlord  entered,  I  said,  'Excuse  me,  sir, 
but  have  you  not  been  in  the  United  States?' 

"  'No,  indeed/  he  replied,  'but  why  do  you  ask  ?' 

"  'That  picture  of  Lincoln,'  I  said;  'where  did  you  get  it?' 

"  'Oh,  that  picture !  Why  I  bought  that  at  Lucerne.  It 
is  the  only  one  in  this  Canton  (county)  and  I  would  not  sell 
it  for  forty  gulden,'  he  exclaimed. 

"Now  thoroughly  interested,  I  again  asked,  'What  made 
you  buy  it?'  He  answered  very  earnestly,  'Because  I  love 
the  man  and  his  principles.  He  was  a  great  man.  Were  you 
ever  in  America  ?'  he  then  asked. 

"  'Oh,  yes !   I  am  an  American,'  I  replied. 

"  'What !  a  native-born  American,'  he  exclaimed,  reaching 
out  his  hand.  'Give  me  your  hand.  I  am  proud  to  meet  a 
countryman  of  the  great  Lincoln,'  he  continued.  'Now  you 
must  stay  with  me  and  let  me  show  you  the  points  of  interest 
about  here.' 

"  'You  are  very  good/  said  I,  'and  since  your  love  and 
reverence  for  Abraham  Lincoln  has  prompted  your  kindness, 
in  his  name  I  thank  you/ 


522     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

"So  presently  we  started  and  I  enjoyed  one  of  the  happiest 
and  most  profitable  days  of  my  entire  journey  because  I  was 
a  countryman  of  the  good  and  great  Lincoln.  It  was  his 
life  of  kind  deeds,  his  poverty  and  struggle,  his  honesty  and 
truthfulness,  and  his  final  death  for  the  cause  of  liberty  and 
union  of  the  states  which,  when  off  there,  thousands  of  miles 
from  America,  had  won  for  me  this  generous  hospitality.  The 
incident  shows  that  a  single  character  may  ennoble  and  glorify 
a  nation.  A  single  name  like  magic  secure  consideration  and 
protection  to  a  race."  3 

WHERE  THE  WHETSTONE  WAS 

In  1834,  when  Lincoln  was  a  candidate  for  the  legislature, 
he  called  on  a  certain  farmer  to  ask  for  his  support.  He 
found  him  in  the  hayfield,  and  was  urging  his  cause  when 
the  dinner-bell  sounded.  The  farmer  invited  him  to  dinner, 
but  he  declined  politely,  and  added: 

"If  you  will  let  me  have  the  scythe  while  you  are  gone, 
I  will  mow  around  the  field  a  couple  of  times." 

When  the  farmer  returned  he  found  three  rows  neatly 
mowed.  The  scythe  lay  against  the  gate-post,  but  Lincoln 
had  disappeared. 

Nearly  thirty  years  afterward  the  farmer  and  his  wife, 
now  grown  old,  were  at  a  White  House  reception,  and  stood 
waiting  in  line  to  shake  hands  with  the  President.  When 
they  got  near  him  in  line,  Lincoln  saw  them  and  calling  an 
aide,  told  him  to  take  them  to  one  of  the  small  parlors, 
where  he  would  see  them  as  soon  as  he  got  through  the  hand- 
shaking. Much  surprised,  the  old  couple  were  led  away. 
Presently  Mr.  Lincoln  came  in,  and  greeting  them  with  an 
outstretched  hand  and  a  warm  smile,  called  them  by  name. 

"Do  you  mean  to  say,"  exclaimed  the  farmer,  "that  you 
remember  me  after  all  these  years?" 

2  Silas  G.  Pratt,  Lincoln  in  Story,  pp.  215,  217. 


AS  SEEN  AND  LOVED  ABROAD 

From  a  picture  woven  in  silk  in  Switzerland  in  1865,  and  now 
in  Dr.  Ervin  Chapman's  collection. 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  523 

"I  certainly  do,"  said  the  President,  and  he  went  on  to 
recall  the  day  he  had  mowed  round  the  farmer's  timothy  field. 

"Yes,  that's  so,"  said  the  old  man,  still  in  astonishment. 
"I  found  the  field  mowed  and  the  scythe  leaning  up  against 
the  gate-post,  but  I  have  always  wanted  to  ask  you,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent, what  you  did  with  the  whetstone?" 

Lincoln  smoothed  his  hair  back  from  his  brow  a  moment 
in  deep  thought ;  then  his  face  lighted  up. 

"Yes,  I  do  remember  now,"  he  said.  "I  put  the  whetstone 
on  top  of  the  high  gate-post." 

And  when  he  got  back  to  Illinois  again  the  farmer  found 
the  whetstone  on  top  of  the  gate-post,  where  it  had  lain  for 
more  than  twenty-five  years. 

LED  BY  A  CHILD 

On  April  n,  1865,  Lincoln  spoke  from  a  window  of  the 
White  House  to  a  large  and  joyful  crowd,  gathered  in  honor 
of  Lee's  surrender.  The  President's  speech  was  full  of  con- 
ciliation. Senator  Harlan  followed,  and  in  the  course  of 
his  remarks  touched  on  the  thought  uppermost  in  everybody's 
mind.  "What  shall  we  do  with  the  rebels?"  he  asked.  A 
voice  answered  from  the  crowd,  "Hang  them!" 

Lincoln's  small  son  was  in  the  room,  playing  with  the 
pens  on  the  table.  Looking  up  he  caught  his  father's  pained 
expression. 

"No,  no,  papa,"  he  cried  in  his  childish  voice.  "Not  hang 
them.  Hang  on  to  them!" 

"That  is  it !  Tad  has  got  it.  We  must  hang  on  to  them !" 
the  President  exclaimed  in  triumph.3 

LINCOLN,  THE  LAWYEE,  ACTS  AS  A  PASTOE 

Visiting  Captain  Gilbert  J.  Greene  at  his  home  in  Wash- 
ingtonville,  New  York,  I  said:  "Captain,  what  do  you  think 
of  Lincoln's  religion?  There  is  evidence  which  satisfies  me 

3  Helen  Nicolay's  Personal  Traits  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  pp.  357,  358. 


524    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

that  he  was  a  thoroughly  religious  man,  and  a  Christian." 
He  answered :  "You  are  correct  in  your  opinion.  At  one  time 
in  his  life  he  was  an  unbeliever,  and  through  life  he  held 
some  religious  views  peculiar  to  himself,  but  in  the  cardinal 
doctrines  of  Christianity  he  was  sound.  One  night  he  said 
to  me,  then  a  boy  about  nineteen,  calling  me  by  my  first  name, 
'Gilbert,  you  have  to  stand  at  your  printer's  case  all  day  and 
I  have  to  sit  all  day,  let  us  take  a  walk.'  As  we  walked  on 
the  country  road  out  of  Springfield,  he  turned  his  eyes  to  the 
heavens  full  of  stars,  and  told  me  their  names  and  their  dis- 
tance from  us  and  the  swiftness  of  their  motion.  He  said 
the  ancients  used  to  arrange  them  so  as  to  make  monsters, 
serpents,  animals  of  one  kind  or  another  out  of  them,  but, 
said  he,  'I  never  behold  them  that  I  do  not  feel  that  I  am 
looking  in  the  face  of  God.  I  can  see  how  it  might  be  pos- 
sible for  a  man  to  look  down  upon  the  earth  and  be  an  atheist, 
but  I  cannot  conceive  how  he  could  look  up  into  the  heavens 
and  say  there  is  no  God.'  The  information  and  inspiration 
received  that  night  during  the  walk  I  shall  never  forget. 

"One  day  he  said  to  me,  'Gilbert,  there  is  a  woman  danger- 
ously sick  living  fifteen  miles  out  in  the  country,  who  has 
sent  for  me  to  come  and  write  her  will,  I  should  like  to 
have  you  go  along  with  me;  I  would  enjoy  your  company, 
and  the  trip  would  be  a  little  recreation  for  you.'  I  cheer- 
fully accepted  the  invitation.  We  found  the  woman  much 
worse  than  we  expected.  She  had  only  a  few  hours  to  live. 
When  Lincoln  had  written  the  will  and  it  had  been  signed 
and  witnessed,  the  woman  said  to  him:  'Now,  I  have  my 
affairs  for  this  world  arranged  satisfactorily,  I  am  thankful 
to  say  that  long  before  this  I  have  made  preparation  for  the 
other  life  I  am  so  soon  to  enter.  I  sought  and  found  Christ 
as  my  Saviour,  who  has  been  my  stay  and  comfort  through 
the  years  and  is  now  near  to  me  to  carry  me  over  the  river 
of  death.  I  do  not  fear  death ;  I  am  really  glad  that  my  time 
has  come,  for  loved  ones  have  gone  before  me  and  I  rejoice 
in  the  hope  of  meeting  them  so  soon.'  Mr.  Lincoln  said  to 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  525 

her,  'Your  faith  in  Christ  is  wise  and  strong,  your  hope  of  a 
future  life  is  blessed.  You  are  to  be  congratulated  on  pass- 
ing through  this  life  so  usefully  and  into  the  future  so 
happily.'  She  asked  him  if  he  would  not  read  a  few  verses 
out  of  the  Bible  to  her.  They  offered  him  the  Book,  but  he 
did  not  take  it,  but  began  reciting  from  memory  the  23rd 
Psalm,  laying  special  emphasis  upon  'Though  I  walk  through 
the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for 
thou  art  with  me;  thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they  comfort  me." 
Without  the  Book  he  took  up  the  first  part  of  the  I4th  of 
John.  'In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions;  if  it  were 
not  so,  I  would  have  told  you.  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for 
you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come 
again,  and  receive  you  unto  myself.'  After  he  had  given 
these  and  other  quotations  from  the  Scriptures  he  recited 
several  hymns,  closing  with  'Rock  of  Ages,  Cleft  for  Me.' 
I  thought  at  the  time  I  had  never  heard  any  elocutionist  speak 
with  such  ease  or  power  as  he  did.  I  am  an  old  man  now, 
but  my  heart  melts  as  it  did  then  in  that  death  chamber,  as  I 
remember  how,  with  almost  divine  pathos,  he  spoke  the  last 
stanza: 

"  'While  I  draw  this  fleeting  breath, 
When  my  eyes  shall  close  in  death, 
When  I  soar  to  worlds  unknown, 
And  behold  Thee  on  Thy  throne, 
Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me, 
Let  me  hide  myself  in  Thee.' 

"A  little  while  after  the  woman  passed  to  her  reward.  As 
we  rode  home  in  the  buggy,  I  expressed  surprise  that  he  should 
have  acted  pastor  as  well  as  attorney  so  perfectly,  and  he  re- 
plied, 'God  and  eternity  were  very  near  to  me  today.' ' 

In  concluding  the  interview,  I  said  to  Captain  Greene, 
"You  have  done  the  memory  of  the  martyred  President  and 
the  Christian  public  a  service  in  opening  this  new  window 


526     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

on  the  religious  side  of  Lincoln's  nature.  However  much 
the  mind  may  be  tempted  to  doubt,  there  are  times  when  the 
heart  must  believe..  The  religion  of  the  dying  woman  and  of 
the  ministering  attorney  is  the  need  of  the  universal  heart 
and  will  become  the  religion  of  the  world."  * 

THOUGHTFUL  FOR  OTHERS 

Colonel  W.  H.  Crook,  President  Lincoln's  bodyguard,  in 
"Memories  of  the  White  House,"  gives  the  following  account 
of  how  it  was  made  possible  for  Wilkes  Booth  to  enter  the 
President's  box  in  Ford's  Theater. 

"The  only  time  that  President  Lincoln  failed  to  say  good- 
night to  me — when  we  parted  after  having  been  together  for 
hours — was  on  the  evening  shortly  before  he  started  for  Ford's 
Theater,  where  he  was  murdered.  As  I  mentioned  on  another 
occasion,  some  years  ago,  Mr.  Lincoln  had  told  me  that  after- 
noon of  a  dream  he  had  had  for  three  successive  nights,  con- 
cerning his  impending  assassination.  Of  course,  the  constant 
dread  of  such  a  calamity  made  me  somewhat  nervous,  and  I 
almost  begged  him  to  remain  in  the  Executive  Mansion  that 
night,  and  not  to  go  to  the  theater.  But  he  would  not  dis- 
appoint Mrs.  Lincoln  and  others  who  were  to  be  present. 
Then  I  urged  that  he  allow  me  to  stay  on  duty  and  accompany 
him;  but  he  would  not  hear  of  this,  either. 

"  'No,  Crook/  he  said,  kindly  but  firmly,  'you  have  had  a 
long,  hard  day's  work  already,  and  must  go  home  to  sleep  and 
rest.  I  cannot  afford  to  have  you  get  all  tired  out  and  ex- 
hausted.' 

"It  was  then  that  he  neglected,  for  the  first  and  only  time, 
to  say  good-night  to  me.  Instead,  he  turned,  with  his  kind, 
grave  face,  and  said:  'Good-bye,  Crook,'  and  went  into  his 
room. 

"I  thought  of  it  at  the  moment;  and  a  few  hours  later, 
when  the  awful  news  flashed  over  Washington  that  he  had 

*  Rev.  F.  C.  Iglehart,  D.D.,  The  Speaking  Oak. 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  527 

been  shot,  his  last  words  were  so  burned  into  my  memory  that 
they  never  have  been,  and  never  can  be  forgotten. 

"Although  I  have  already  stated  the  fact  in  print,  I  wish 
to  repeat  it  here — that  when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  their 
party  sat  in  their  box  at  Ford's  Theater  that  fateful  night, 
the  guard  who  was  acting  as  my  substitute  took  his  position 
at  the  rear  of  the  box,  close  to  an  entrance  leading  into  the 
box  from  the  dress  circle  of  the  theater.  His  orders  were  to 
stand  there,  fully  armed,  and  to  permit  no  unauthorized  person 
to  pass  into  the  box.  His  orders  were  to  stand  there  and  pro- 
tect the  President  at  all  hazards. 

"From  the  spot  where  he  was  thus  stationed,  this  guard 
could  not  see  the  stage  or  the  actors;  but  he  could  hear  the 
words  the  actors  spoke,  and  he  became  so  interested  in  them 
that,  incredible  as  it  may  seem,  he  quietly  deserted  his  post 
of  duty,  and  walking  down  the  dimly-lighted  side  aisle,  de- 
liberately took  a  seat  in  the  last  r^vv  of  the  dress  circle. 

"It  was  while  the  President  was  thus  absolutely  unpro- 
tected through  this  guard's  amazing  recklessness — to  use  no 
stronger  words — that  Booth  rushed  through  the  entrance  to 
the  box,  just  deserted  by  the  guard,  and  accomplished  his  foul 
deed.  Realization  of  his  part  in  the  assassination  so  preyed 
upon  the  mind  and  spirit  of  the  guard  that  he  finally  died  as  a 
result  of  it." 

THE  HIRED  MAN 

The  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate  is  responsible  for 
the  following:  "In  the  autumn  of  1830,  a,traveling  book  ped- 
dler, who  afterward  became  a  successful  publisher,  and  the 
head  of  a  firm  whose  name  is  well  known  in  the  United  States 
today,  came  to  the  door  of  a  log  cabin  on  a  farm  in  eastern 
Illinois,  and  asked  for  the  courtesy  of  a  night's  lodging.  There 
was  no  inn  near.  The  good  wife  was  hospitable  but  per- 
plexed, 'for,'  said  she,  'we  can  feed  your  beast  but  we  can't 
lodge  you  unless  you  are  willing  to  sleep  with  the  hired  man.' 
'Let's  have  a  look  at  him  first,'  said  the  peddler.  The  woman 


528    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

pointed  to  the  side  of  the  house,  where  a  lank,  six-foot  man, 
in  ragged  but  clean  clothes,  was  stretched  on  the  grass  reading 
a  book.  'He'll  do,'  said  the  stranger.  'A  man  who  reads  a 
book  as  hard  as  that  fellow  seems  to,  has  got  too  much  else 
to  think  of  besides  my  watch  or  my  small  change.' 

"The  hired  man  was  Abraham  Lincoln ;  and  when  he  was 
President  the  two  met  in  Washington  and  laughed  together 
over  the  story  of  their  early  rencontre." 

WATCHED  WITH  A  DYING  SOLDIEE 

One  of  the  prettiest  stories  told  of  Abraham  Lincoln  is 
that,  on  visiting  a  military  hospital,  he  stood  at  the  bedside 
of  a  Vermont  boy  of  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  who  was 
mortally  wounded.  Taking  the  dying  boy's  thin,  white  hand 
in  his  ovrn,  the  President  said  in  a  tender  tone,  "Well,  my 
poor  bo) ,  what  can  I  do  for  you?" 

The  young  fellow  looked  up  into  the  President's  kindly 
face,  and  asked:  "Won't  you  write  to  my  mother  for  me?" 

"That  I  will,"  answered  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  calling  for  a 
pen,  ink  and  paper,  he  seated  himself  by  the  side  of  the  bed 
and  wrofj  from  the  boy's  dictation.  It  was  a  long  letter,  but 
the  President  betrayed  no  signs  of  weariness.  When  it  was 
finished  he  arose,  saying,  "I  will  post  this  as  soon  as  I  get 
back  to  my  office.  Now,  is  there  anything  else  I  can  do  for 
you?" 

The  boy  looked  up  appealingly  to  the  President.  "Won't 
you  stay  with  me?"  he  asked.  "I  do  want  to  hold  on  to  your 
hand."  Mr.  Lincoln  at  once  perceived  the  lad's  meaning. 
The  appeal  was  too  strong  for  him  to  resist,  so  he  sat  down 
by  his  side,  and  took  hold  of  his  hand.  For  two  hours  the 
President  sat  there  patiently  as  though  he  had  been  the  boy's 
father.  When  the  end  came,  he  bent  over  and  folded  the  thin 
hands  over  his  breast.  As  he  did  so,  he  burst  into  tears,  and 
when,  soon  after,  he  left  the  hospital,  they  were  still  streaming 
down  his  cheeks. 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  529 

THREE  TERRORS 

"One  day,  shortly  before  the  issue  of  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  a  visitor,  rinding  Mr.  Lincoln  evidently  in 
melancholy  mood,  said  to  him,  'Mr.  President,  I  am  very 
sorry  to  find  you  not  feeling  so  well  as  at  my  last  visit/ 

"Mr.  Lincoln  replied:  'Yes,  I  am  troubled.  One  day  the 
best  of  our  friends  from  the  border  States  come  in  and  insist 
that  I  shall  not  issue  an  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and 
that,  if  I  do  so,  the  border  States  will  virtually  cast  in  their 
lot  with  the  Southern  Confederacy.  Another  day,  Charles 
Sumner,  Thad  Stevens,  and  Ben  Wade  come  in  and  insist 
that  if  I  do  not  issue  such  a  proclamation  the  North  will  be 
utterly  discouraged  and  the  Union  wrecked — and,  by  the  way, 
these  three  men  are  coming  in  this  very  afternoon.'  At  this 
moment  his  expression  changed,  his  countenance  lighted  up, 

and  he  said  to  the  visitor,  who  was  from  the  West,  'Mr. , 

did  you  ever  go  to  a  prairie  school?' 

"  'No/  said  the  visitor,  'I  never  did/ 

"  'Well/  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  'I  did,  and  it  was  a  very  poor 
school,  and  we  were  very  poor  folks — too  poor  to  have  regu- 
lar reading  books,  and  so  we  brought  our  Bibles  and  read 
from  them.  One  morning  the  chapter  was  from  the  Book 
of  Daniel,  and  a  littk  boy  who  sat  next  me  went  all  wrong 
in  pronouncing  the  names  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed- 
nego.  The  teacher  had  great  difficulty  in  setting  him  right, 
and  before  he  succeeded  was  obliged  to  scold  the  boy  and 
cuff  him  for  his  stupidity.  The  next  verse  came  to  me,  and 
so  the  chapter  went  along  down  the  class.  Presently  it  started 
on  its  way  back,  and  soon  after  I  noticed  that  the  little  fellow 
began  crying.  On  this  I  asked  him,  'What's  the  matter  with 
you  ?'  and  he  answered,  'Don't  you  see  ?  Them  three  miserable 
cusses  are  coming  back  to  me  again !'  "  6 
5  Autobiography  of  Andrew  D.  White,  VoL  II.,  p.  127. 


530    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

FRANKLY  CONFESSED  HIS  FAULT 

The  following  is  from  the  pen  of  D.  H.  Mitchell:  "Soon 
after  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  a  hot-blooded,  fire-eating 
young  man,  a  son  of  members  of  Dr.  Gurley's  church,  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  made  his  way  through  our  lines  and  en- 
listed in  the  Confederate  Army.  The  fortunes  of  war  threw 
him  into  our  hands  as  a  prisoner.  It  was  deemed  best  to  make 
an  example  of  him,  and  he  was  consequently  court-martialed 
and  sentenced  to  be  shot.  Dr.  Gurley  interested  himself  in 
the  young  man's  behalf  and  secured  a  commutation  of  the 
sentence.  A  short  time  after,  the  father  of  the  boy  came  to 
Dr.  Gurley  and  solicited  his  aid  to  obtain  a  pardon.  Dr.  Gur- 
ley strongly  advised  against  the  effort.  He  pointed  out  that 
the  young  man's  life  had  been  saved  by  the  President  and  that 
it  would  be  extremely  unwise  and  imprudent  to  apply  for  a 
pardon  so  soon.  The  father  replied  that  he  felt  so  himself, 
but  that  his  wife  took  on  so  about  her  son  that  he  feared 
she  would  lose  her  mind  if  something  were  not  done.  'I  must,' 
said  he,  'make  the  attempt  on  his  mother's  account.  It  is 
better  to  fail  than  not  to  try.'  Consequently  Dr.  Gurley  signed 
the  petition  for  a  pardon  and  the  father  took  it  to  President 
Lincoln. 

"When  the  father  made  known  his  errand  the  President 
said  with  great  earnestness:  'I  saved  the  life  of  your  son  after 
he  had  been  condemned  to  be  shot;  and  now  you  come  here 
so  soon  when  you  know  I  am  overwhelmed  with  care  and 
anxiety  asking  for  his  pardon.  You  should  have  been  con- 
tent with  what  I  have  done.  Go;  and  if  you  annoy  me  any 
more  I  shall  feel  it  my  duty  to  consider  whether  I  ought  not 
to  recall  what  I  have  already  done.' 

"A  few  days  later  the  President  sent  for  the  father,  apol- 
ogized for  the  way  he  had  spoken  to  him,  and,  to  his  utter 
astonishment,  handed  him  a  pardon. 

"Not  long  after,  and  before  knowing  what  had  transpired, 
Dr.  Gurley  met  the  President.  Having  transacted  his  business, 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  531 

he  was  about  to  go  when  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  'By  the  way, 

Doctor,  you  signed  the  petition  for  Mr. 's  son's  pardon, 

didn't  you?' 

"The  Doctor  replied  that  he  had  done  so,  but  explained 
that  he  had  advised  against  making  the  application  at  that 
time,  and  that  he  was  induced  to  sign  it  only  by  the  statement 
of  the  father  that  he  feared  his  wife  would  lose  her  mind  if 
something  were  not  done  to  relieve  her.  The  President  then 

remarked:  'Well,  Mr.  came  to  me  with  the  petition. 

It  made  me  very  angry  and  I  dismissed  him  roughly.  After- 
ward I  felt  so  ashamed  of  myself  for  having  lost  my  temper 
that  I  made  out  a  pardon  for  the  man  and  gave  it  to  him.' 
And  then,  after  a  pause  and  with  a  broad  smile,  he  added: 

"  'Ah,  Doctor !  these  wives  of  ours  have  the  inside  track 
on  us,  don't  they?'" 

LINCOLN  AT  A  SALOON  DOOE 

Rev.  John  Talmadge  Bergen,  D.D.,  relates  the  following, 
which  at  the  present  time  is  of  special  interest: 

"Some  years  ago  at  a  Lincoln  meeting  among  the  old 
soldiers  of  a  Michigan  city,  one  of  the  battle-worn  veterans 
gave  the  following  testimony:  'We  have  heard  what  Lincoln 
has  done  for  all  of  us.  I  want  to  tell  you  what  he  did  for 
me.  I  was  a  private  in  one  of  the  western  regiments  that 
arrived  first  in  Washington  after  the  call  for  75,000.  We 
were  marching  through  the  city  amid  great  crowds  of  cheering 
people,  and  then,  after  going  into  camp,  were  given  leave  to 
see  the  town. 

'  'Like  many  other  of  our  boys,  the  saloon  or  tavern  was 
the  first  thing  we  hit.  With  my  comrade  I  was  just  about  to 
go  into  the  door  of  one  of  these  places,  when  a  hand  was 
laid  upon  my  arm,  and  looking  up,  there  was  President  Lin- 
coln from  his  great  height  above  me,  a  mere  lad,  regarding 
me  with  those  kindly  eyes  and  pleasant  smile. 

'  'I  almost  dropped  with  surprise  and  bashfulness,  but  he 


532     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

held  out  his  hand,  and  as  I  took  it  he  shook  hands  in  strong 
Western  fashion  and  said:  "I  don't  like  to  see  our  uniform 
going  into  these  places."  That  was  all  he  said.  He  turned 
immediately,  and  walked  away  and  we  passed  on.  We  would 
not  have  gone  into  that  tavern  for  all  the  wealth  of  Wash- 
ington City. 

"  'And  that  is  what  Abraham  Lincoln  did  then  and  there 
for  me.  He  fixed  me  so  that  whenever  I  go  near  a  saloon  and 
in  any  way  think  of  entering,  his  words  and  face  come  back 
to  me.  That  experience  has  been  a  means  of  salvation  to  my 
life.  Today  I  hate  the  saloon,  and  have  hated  it  ever  since 
I  heard  those  words  from  that  great  man.' ' 

CLEAN  HANDS 

One  day  a  stranger  called  to  secure  Lincoln's  services. 
"State  your  case,"  said  Lincoln.  A  history  of  the  case  was 
given,  when  Lincoln  astonished  him  by  saying,  "I  cannot 
serve  you,  for  you  are  wrong,  and  the  other  party  is  right." 

"That  is  none  of  your  business,  if  I  hire  and  pay  you 
for  taking  the  case,"  said  the  man. 

"Not  my  business!"  exclaimed  Lincoln.  "My  business  is 
never  to  defend  wrong,  even  if  I  am  a  lawyer.  I  never  under- 
take a  case  that  is  manifestly  wrong." 

"Not  for  any  amount  of  pay?"  continued  the  stranger. 

"Not  for  all  you  are  worth,"  replied  Lincoln. — H.  H. 
Smith,  Kinsale,  Va. 

SHOT  THROUGH  HIS  HAT 

John  W.  Nichols,  President  Lincoln's  bodyguard  at  the 
Soldiers'  Home,  near  Washington,  gives  the  following  account 
of  the  President's  narrow  escape  from  assassination  in  Au- 
gust, 1864: 

"One  night  I  was  doing  sentry  duty  at  the  large  gate 
through  which  entrance  was  had  to  the  grounds  of  the  Soldiers' 
Home,  near  Washington,  where  Mr.  Lincoln  spent  much  time 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  533 

in  summer.  About  eleven  o'clock  I  heard  a  rifle-shot  in  the 
direction  of  the  city,  and  shortly  afterwards  I  heard  approach- 
ing hoof-beats.  In  two  or  three  minutes  a  horse  came  dashing 
up,  and  I  recognized  the  belated  President.  The  horse  he 
rode  was  a  very  spirited  one,  and  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  saddle 
horse.  As  horse  and  rider  approached  the  gate,  I  noticed 
that  the  President  was  bareheaded.  As  soon  as  I  had  assisted 
him  in  checking  his  steed,  the  President  said  to  me :  'He  came 
pretty  near  getting  away  with  me,  didn't  he?  He  got  the  bit 
in  his  teeth  before  I  could  draw  the  rein.' 

"I  then  asked  him  where  his  hat  was;  and  he  replied  that 
somebody  had  fired  a  gun  off  down  at  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
and  that  his  horse  had  become  scared  and  had  jerked  his 
hat  off.  I  led  the  animal  to  the  Executive  Cottage  and  the 
President  dismounted  and  entered.  Thinking  the  affair 
rather  strange,  a  corporal  and  myself  started  off  to  investi- 
gate. When  we  reached  the  place  whence  the  sound  of  the 
shot  had  come — a  point  where  the  driveway  intersects  with 
the  main  road — we  found  the  President's  hat.  It  was  a  plain, 
silk  hat,  and  upon  examination  we  discovered  a  bullet-hole 
through  the  crown.  We  searched  the  locality  thoroughly,  but 
without  avail.  Next  day  I  gave  Mr.  Lincoln  his  hat,  and 
called  his  attention  to  the  bullet-hole.  He  made  some  humor- 
ous remark,  to  the  effect  that  it  was  made  by  some  foolish 
marksman  and  was  not  intended  for  him;  but  added  that  he 
wished  nothing  said  about  the  matter.  We  all  felt  confident 
that  it  was  an  attempt  to  kill  the  President,  and  after  that  he 
never  rode  alone." 

COTJRAGEOTJS  FIDELITY 

Hon.  Joshua  R.  Giddings  by  his  forceful  personality, 
superior  intellectual  endowments,  physical  and  moral  courage, 
and  undeviating  loyalty  to  freedom,  attained  first  place  among 
the  antislavery  leaders  of  the  period  preceding  the  election  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  as  President  in  1860.  His  twenty  years' 


534     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

services  as  a  member  of  Congress  from  the  famous  Western 
Reserve  district  in  Ohio,  and  his  many  heroic  battles  with 
the  pro-slavery  forces  in  Congress  and  elsewhere,  gave  pecu- 
liar weight  to  an  amendment  of  the  platform  proposed  by 
him  in  the  Chicago  convention  declaring  that  "all  men  are 
created  equal."  That  amendment,  however,  after  discussion, 
was  disapproved  of  by  the  convention  as  unnecessary,  to  the 
regret  of  those  who  favored  it,  and  especially  of  Mr.  Giddings, 
who  expressed  his  disappointment  and  displeasure  by  with- 
drawing from  the  convention. 

But  before  he  left  the  Wigwam,  in  which  the  convention 
was  held,  the  veteran  antislavery  champion  was  overtaken  and 
informed  that  under  the  leadership  of  George  William  Curtis 
the  convention  had  revised  its  decision  and  adopted  his  amend- 
ment. This  action  was  a  great  joy  to  Mr.  Giddings,  who 
thereupon  returned  and  resumed  his  seat  as  a  delegate  in  the 
convention,  which  on  the  following  day  nominated  Abraham 
Lincoln  as  its  candidate  for  President. 

All  this  was  made  a  matter  of  record,  but  not  until  after 
Mr.  Lincoln's  death  was  it  generally  known  that  he,  though 
at  Springfield,  was  a  participant  in  the  efforts  to  secure  the 
adoption  of  the  Giddings  amendment.  Immediately  after  the 
defeat  of  that  amendment,  a  telegram  was  sent  Mr.  Lincoln, 
saying:  "Convention  has  just  voted  down  the  Giddings  amend- 
ment. What  can  we  do?" 

To  this  Mr.  Lincoln  promptly  replied:  "Party  rejecting 
the  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  will  go  to 
pieces.  Have  a  recess,  reconsider  amendment.  Time  and 
reflection  will  restore  men's  reason  and  bring  better  judg- 
ment." This  message  from  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in  the  hall  when 
Mr.  Curtis  finished  his  speech  for  the  amendment  and  as  the 
crisis  seemed  to  be  passed  it  was  not  presented.  It  was,  how- 
ever, a  fine  illustration  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  courageous  fidelity 
to  his  convictions. 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  535 

KEFTTSED  TO  PLEDGE 

Quite  as  illustrative  as  the  foregoing,  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
great  courage  and  wisdom,  is  the  following  from  the  Hon. 
John  B.  Alley,  a  prominent  member  of  Congress  from  Massa- 
chusetts : 

"The  evening  before  the  balloting  in  the  Chicago  conven- 
tion, a  telegram  was  sent  Mr.  Lincoln  by  his  trusted  friends 
in  Chicago,  stating  that  his  chances  for  securing  the  nomina- 
tion depended  upon  the  votes  of  two  delegations  in  the  con- 
vention which  were  named  in  the  dispatch,  and  that  to  secure 
this  support  he  must  pledge  himself,  if  elected,  to  give  places 
in  his  Cabinet  to  the  heads  of  those  delegations. 

"Mr.  Lincoln  immediately  replied:  'I  authorize  no  bargains 
and  will  be  bound  by  none.'  " 

SEEKS  FELLOWSHIP  IN  PRAYER  WITH  BEECHER 

Mr.  Samuel  Scoville,  Jr.,  of  Philadelphia,  a  grandson  of 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  is  responsible  for  the  following,  which 
he  received  from  his  grandmother,  Mr.  Beecher's  widow: 

"Following  the  disaster  of  Bull  Run,  when  the  strength 
and  resources  of  the  nation  seemed  to  have  been  wasted,  the 
hopes  of  the  North  were  at  their  lowest  ebb,  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  well-nigh  overwhelmed  with  the  awful  responsibility  of 
guiding  the  nation  in  its  life  struggle.  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
of  Brooklyn,  was  perhaps  more  prominently  associated  with 
the  cause  of  the  North  at  that  time  than  any  other  minister 
of  the  gospel.  He  had  preached  and  lectured  and  fought  its 
battles  in  pulpit  and  press  all  over  the  country,  had  ransomed 
slaves  from  his  pulpit,  and  his  convictions  and  feelings  were 
everywhere  known. 

"Late  one  evening  a  stranger  called  at  the  home  of  Mr. 
Beecher  and  asked  to  see  him.  Mr.  Beecher  was  working 
alone  in  his  study,  as  was  his  custom,  and  this  stranger  refused 
to  send  up  his  name,  and  came  muffled  in  a  military  cloak 


536     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

which  completely  hid  his  face.  Mrs.  Beecher's  suspicions  were 
aroused,  and  she  was  very  unwilling  that  he  should  have  the 
interview  which  he  requested,  especially  as  Mr.  Beecher's  life 
had  been  frequently  threatened  by  sympathizers  with  the 
South.  The  latter,  however,  insisted  that  his  visitor  be  shown 
up.  Accordingly,  the  stranger  entered,  the  doors  were  shut, 
and  for  hours  the  wife  below  could  hear  their  voices  and 
their  footsteps  as  they  paced  back  and  forth.  Finally,  toward 
midnight,  the  mysterious  visitor  went  out,  still  muffled  in  his 
cloak,  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  gain  any  idea  of  his 
features. 

"The  years  went  by,  the  war  was  finished,  the  President 
had  suffered  martyrdom  at  his  post,  and  it  was  not  until 
shortly  before  Mr.  Beecher's  death,  over  twenty  years  later, 
that  he  made  known  that  the  mysterious  stranger  who  had 
called  on  that  stormy  night  was  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  stress 
and  strain  of  those  days  and  nights  of  struggle,  with  all  the 
responsibilities  and  sorrows  of  a  nation  fighting  for  its  life 
resting  upon,  him,  had  broken  his  strength,  and  for  a  time 
undermined  his  courage.  He  had  traveled  alone  in  disguise 
and  at  night  from  Washington  to  Brooklyn,  to  gain  the  sym- 
pathy and  help  of  one  whom  he  knew  as  a  man  of  God,  en- 
gaged in  the  same  great  battle  in  which  he  was  the  leader. 
Alone  for  hours  that  night,  like  Jacob  of  old,  the  two  had 
wrestled  together  in  prayer  with  the  God  of  battles  and  the 
Watcher  over  the  right  until  they  had  received  the  help  which 
He  had  promised  to  those  that  seek  His  aid." 

This  story  has  been  vigorously  denied  and  as  vigorously 
defended.  That  it  was  originally  told  by  Mrs.  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  cannot  be  questioned.  Mr.  Scoville,  who  first  pub- 
lished it,  declares  that  in  his  opinion  it  is  true,  and  Dr. 
William  J.  Johnson,  author  of  "Abraham  Lincoln — the 
Christian,"  informed  me  that  after  thorough  investigation  he 
fully  believed  it  to  be  authentic  and  truthful. 

This  seemingly  strange  event  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  life  is  in 
perfect  accord  with  his  religious  belief  and  his  deeper  spiritual 


HENRY   WARD   BEECHER 

With  whom  President  Lincoln  sought  fellowship  in  prayer. 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  537 

nature.  That  profound  sense  of  dependence  upon  God  and 
faith  in  prayer  which  he  expressed  so  many  times  and  with 
such  clearness,  caused  him,  as  already  stated,  to  solicit  callers 
at  the  White  House  whom  he  held  in  especially  high  esteem, 
like  Bishops  Simpson  and  Janes,  Major  Merwin  and  others, 
to  kneel  with  him  in  supplication  and  prayer. 

And  apart  from  the  journey  from  Washington  to  Brook- 
lyn, this  event  related  by  Mrs.  Beecher  was  not  unlike  those 
requests  for  prayer  in  the  Executive  Mansion.  Mr.  Lincoln's 
well  known  regard  for  Henry  Ward  Beecher  would  certainly 
cause  him  to  yearn  for  his  companionship  at  the  altar  of  inter- 
cession at  a  time  of  great  and  peculiar  national  peril-  Mr. 
Beecher's  early  and  heroic  espousal  of  the  antislavery  cause 
and  his  matchless  eloquence  in  denouncing  slavery  attracted 
Mr.  Lincoln's  attention  and  awakened  his  admiration  before 
he  had  himself  become  widely  known.  He  was  a  constant 
reader  of  The  Independent  while  Mr.  Beecher  was  its  editor, 
and  on  both  of  the  Sundays  he  spent  in  New  York  during  his 
Cooper  Institute  and  New  England  speaking  tour,  he  crossed 
over  to. Brooklyn  to  hear  Beecher  preach. 

During  his  Presidency,  Mr.  Lincoln  very  earnestly  be- 
sought Beecher,  during  a  contemplated  European  trip,  to  make 
a  series  of  addresses  in  England  on  behalf  of  the  great  struggle 
to  preserve  the  Union.  This  request  Mr.  Beecher  at  first 
declined,  but  at  length  accepted,  performing  the  task  assigned 
him  in  a  manner  unparalleled  in  human  history. 

And  so  high  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  estimate  of  Beecher's  ora- 
torical powers  and  his  appreciation  of  his  services  to  the  nation 
and  to  the  cause  of  human  freedom  that  when  the  flag  was 
to  be  restored  to  Fort  Sumter,  the  President  made  special 
request  that  the  great  preacher  be  chosen  to  deliver  the  address 
upon  that  important  occasion.  It  is,  therefore,  reasonable 
that  when  overwhelmed  by  a  realization  of  the  nation's  perils, 
the  great  Chieftain  should  quietly  seek  the  seclusion  of  the 
upper  chamber  in  Brooklyn  to  spend  a  season  in  prayer  with 


538     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  man  of  God  whom  he  held  in  such  high  esteem  and  for 
whom  he  cherished  such  ardent  personal  affection. 

Upon  the  scene  of  this  unique  event  there  rests  a  halo  of 
celestial  beauty  too  sacred  to  be  regarded  with  indifference 
or  doubt. 

A  SLAVE-MOTHER'S  PRAYER 

The  following  from  the  late  Dr.  Booker  T.  Washington 
is  peculiarly  interesting  and  pathetic:  "My  first  knowledge 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  came  in  this  way:  I  was  awakened  early 
one  morning  before  the  dawn  of  day,  as  I  lay  wrapped  in  a 
bundle  of  rags  on  the  dirt  floor  of  our  slave  cabin,  by  the 
prayers  of  my  mother.  It  was  just  before  she  left  for  her 
day's  work  and  she  was  kneeling  over  rne  earnestly  praying 
that  Abraham  Lincoln  might  succeed  and  that  one  day  she 
and  her  boy  might  be  free." 

A  SCOFFER  WEEPS 

Dr.  Edward  Eggleston,  in  the  following,  tells  how  a  jolly 
friend  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  Springfield  succeeded  in  bantering 
him  about  an  event  that  occurred  while  he  was  in  New  York 
City  to  deliver  the  Cooper  Institute  speech: 

"He  started  for  'Old  Abe's'  office,  but  bursting  open  the 
door  impulsively,  found  a  stranger  in  conversation  with  Mr. 
Lincoln.  He  turned  to  retrace  his  steps,  when  Lincoln  called 
out,  'Jim!  what  do  you  want?'  'Nothing.'  'Yes,  you  do; 
come  back.' 

"After  some  entreaty,  'Jim'  approached  Mr.  Lincoln,  and 
remarked  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  'Well,  Abe,  I  see  }rou  have 
been  making  a  speech  to  Sunday  School  children.  What's  the 
matter  ?' 

"  'Sit  down,  Jim,  and  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it.  When 
Sunday  morning  came,  I  didn't  know  exactly  what  to  do.  Mr. 
Washburne  asked  me  where  I  was  going.  I  told  him  I  had 
nowhere  to  go;  and  he  proposed  to  take  me  down  to  the  Five 
Points  Sunday  School,  to  show  me  something  worth  seeing.  I 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  539 

was  very  much  interested  by  what  I  saw.  Presently  Mr. 
Pease  came  up  and  spoke  to  Mr.  Washburne,  who  introduced 
me.  Mr.  Pease  wanted  us  to  speak.  Washburne  spoke,  and 
then  I  was  urged  to  speak.  I  told  them  I  did  not  know  any- 
thing about  talking  to  Sunday  Schools,  but  Mr.  Pease  said 
many  of  the  children  were  friendless  and  homeless,  and  that 
a  few  words  would  do  them  good.  Washburne  said  I  must 
talk.  And  so  I  rose  to  speak;  but  I  tell  you,  Jim,  I  didn't 
know  what  to  say.  I  remembered  that  Mr.  Pease  said  they 
were  homeless  and  friendless,  and  I  thought  of  the  time  when 
I  had  been  pinched  by  terrible  poverty.  And  so  I  told  them 
that  I  had  been  poor;  that  I  remembered  when  my  toes  stuck 
out  through  my  broken  shoes  in  winter;  when  my  arms  were 
out  at  the  elbows ;  when  I  shivered  with  the  cold.  And  I  told 
them  there  was  only  one  rule ;  that  was,  always  to  do  the  very 
best  you  can.  I  told  them  that  I  had  always  tried  to  do  the 
very  best  I  could;  and  that,  if  they  would  follow  that  rule, 
they  would  get  along,  somehow.  That  was  about  what  I  said. 
And  when  I  got  through,  Mr.  Pease  said  it  was  just  the  thing 
they  needed.  And  when  the  school  was  dismissed,  all  the 
teachers  came  up  and  shook  hands  with  me,  and  thanked  me; 
although  I  did  not  know  that  I  had  been  saying  anything  of 
any  account. 

"  'But  the  next  morning  I  saw  my  remarks  noticed  in  the 
papers.'  Just  here  Mr.  Lincoln  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket, 
and  remarked  that  he  had  never  heard  anything  that  touched 
him  as  had  the  songs  which  those  children  sang.  With  that 
he  drew  forth  a  little  book,  saying  that  they  had  given  him 
one  of  the  books  from  which  they  sang.  He  began  to  read  a 
piece  with  all  the  earnestness  of  his  great,  earnest  soul.  In 
the  middle  of  the  second  verse  his  friend  ']im'  felt  a  choking 
in  his  throat  and  a  tickling  in  his  nose.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  third  verse  he  saw  that  the  stranger  was  weeping,  and 
his  own  tears  fell  fast.  Turning  toward  Lincoln,  who  was 
reading  straight  on,  he  saw  the  great,  blinding  tears  in  his 
eyes,  so  that  he  could  not  possibly  see  the  pages.  He  was 


540     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

repeating  that  little  song  from  memory.  How  often  he  had 
read  it,  or  how  long  its  sweet  and  simple  accents  continued 
to  reverberate  through  his  soul,  no  one  can  know." 

ROOT,  HOG,  OR  DIE! 

The  following  story  is  just  as  Lincoln  told  it  but  not  as  it  is 
usually  published. 

The  morning  after  the  return  of  President  Lincoln  and 
Secretary  Seward  from  their  conference  with  the  Confederate 
Commissioners  at  Hampton  Roads,  General  James  M.  Ashley, 
Congressman  from  Ohio,  called  at  the  White  House  and 
found  Mr.  Lincoln  in  exuberant  spirits.  The  President  held 
General  Ashley  in  high  esteem  and  was  always  very  free  with 
him  in  conversation.  Hence,  on  that  February  morning,  after 
the  President's  return  from  Hampton  Roads,  he  talked  with 
unrestrained  freedom  to  the  Ohio  Congressman  respecting  the 
Hampton  Roads  affair. 

Within  an  hour  after  his  delightful  interview  with  the 
President,  General  Ashley  was  in  his  office  in  the  Capitol  and 
gave  to  me,  his  private  secretary,  a  full  account  of  what  had 
taken  place  between  the  President  and  him.  Many  times  dur- 
ing the  half  century  that  has  passed  since  then  have  I  thought 
of  the  General's  high  glee  as  he  rehearsed  to  me  the  state- 
ments made  by  Mr.  Lincoln.  But  especially  gleeful  was  he, 
when  he  suddenly  sprang  from  his  chair,  and  said: 

"And  'Old  Abe'  told  them  a  story,  and  it  was  the 'best  of 
anything  I  have  heard  for  many  a  day."  And  then,  that  he 
might  be  at  his  best,  for  he  was  himself  a  famous  story- 
teller, he  remained  standing,  his  magnificent  form  being  re- 
peatedly convulsed  with  laughter  as  he  dramatically  told,  fresh 
from  the  President's  lips,  the  story  he  had  by  strong  persua- 
sion prevailed  upon  him  to  relate.  That  story  as  it  was  then 
given  to  me  and  carefully  noted  down  at  the  time,  is  as 
follows : 

In  all  the  negotiations  at  Hampton  Roads  the  Confederate 


DAVID   R.   LOCKE 

Whose  humorous  Nasby  writings  were  read  and  greatly  enjoyed  by  President 
Lincoln.  The  copy  of  the  Nasby  book  which  the  President  read,  was 
given  to  Mr.  Locke  after  Lincoln's  death  with  "A.  Lincoln"  written 
many  times  upon  its  paper  cover.  From  a  photograph  by  Brady 
taken  in  the  author's  presence,  and  now  in  his  collection. 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN 

Commissioners  wrought  with  tireless  diligence  to  secure  terms 
of  peace  without  any  interference  with  the  institution  of 
slavery.  Respecting  this,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  unyielding  and 
stated  that  not  one  word  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation 
could  be  retracted,  and  that  Congress  had  just  voted  by  the 
requisite  two-thirds  majority  to  submit  to  the  several  states 
a  constitutional  amendment,  which,  if  adopted,  by  three- 
fourths  of  the  states,  as  he  was  very  sure  it  would  be,  would 
forever  prohibit  slavery  in  the  nation. 

At  this  point,  Mr.  Hunter  of  Virginia,  one  of  the  Con- 
federate Commissioners,  interrupted  the  President  by  saying: 
"There  is  one  feature  of  this  matter  which  I  fear  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  people  of  the  United  States  do  not  properly 
appreciate.  They  should  remember,  as  they  seem  not  to  do, 
that  the  white  people  of  the  South  never  have  been  accustomed 
to  manual  labor.  They  have  not  the  physical  strength  and 
power  of  endurance  to  perform  such  labor,  and  they  have 
no  knowledge  of  the  methods  by  which  a  living  can  be  secured 
by  handicraft  of  any  kind.  Now,  if  their  slaves  are  taken 
from  them,  those  Negroes,  thus  suddenly  freed,  would  not 
be  willing,  at  any  reasonable  price  if  at  all,  to  become  the 
hired  servants  of  the  people  who  had  owned  and  controlled 
them  as  slaves.  What  then  would  become  of  this  great  pop- 
ulation of  high-spirited  white  people  of  the  South?  How 
could  they  subsist  if  their  slaves  are  taken  from  them?" 

Mr.  Lincoln  remained  silent  that  this  argument  might  be 
answered  by  his  Secretary  of  State.  But  as  Mr.  Seward 
seemed  unable  successfully  to  meet  this  new  and  seemingly 
strong  objection,  the  President  said: 

"I  do  not  pretend,  Mr.  Hunter,  to  know  conditions  in  the 
South  nearly  as  well  as  they  are  known  by  you,  but  what  you 
say  reminds  me  of  an  incident  that  occurred  quite  a  number 
of  years  ago  in  Illinois.  A  farmer  there  by  the  name  of  Case, 
who  was  ambitious  to  raise  a  large  number  of  hogs,  decided 
to  fatten  his  porkers  upon  turnips  instead  of  corn.  He,  there- 
fore, at  a  time  when  his  turnips  were  full  grown  and  juicy, 


542     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

turned  his  herd  of  hogs  into  the  large  field  and  permitted  them 
to  eat  without  restraint.  This  worked  finely  and  saved  the 
farmer  the  trouble  and  expense  of  harvesting  the  turnips  and 
of  feeding  them  to  the  hogs. 

"One  day,  as  he  was  standing  watching  what  was  going 
on  in  the  field  of  turnips,  a  neighbor  came  along  and  said: 
'This  looks  very  well  now,  Mr.  Case,  but  you  must  remember 
that  winter  comes  early,  and  the  ground  freezes  as  hard  as  a 
rock,  twelve  inches  or  more  in  depth.  Then,  what  are  the 
hogs  going  to  do?' 

"This  was  a  phase  of  the  matter  which  Mr.  Case  had  not 
considered,  and  dropping  his  head  as  if  in  deep  meditation, 
he  remained  silent  for  a  brief  time  and  then  with  emphasis 
replied:  'Well,  it  may  be  hard  on  their  snouts,  but  I  guess  it 
will  have  to  be  root,  hog,  or  die !' ' 

This  story  was  effective  in  settling  that  question  with 
those  commissioners,  and  also  in  producing  a  feeling  of  exul- 
tation among  the  loyal  people  to  whom  it  soon  became  known. 

I  never  saw  General  Ashley  laugh  with  greater  heartiness 
and  abandon  than  when  he  related  this  story  to  me  in  his 
office  just  after  it  had  been  given  to  him  by  the  President. 
And  the  story  spread  like  a  prairie  fire,  and  was  greeted  with 
great  gratification  and  merriment  by  the  people  of  strong  anti- 
slavery  sentiments.  Many  times  did  I  hear  it  told,  and  it  was 
always  received  by  peals  of  laughter. 

Unfortunately,  as  I  think,  for  history  and  for  the  effect- 
iveness of  this  characteristic  exhibition  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  force 
and  exhaustless  fund  of  illustration,  this  story  has  been  so 
changed  as  to  cause  Mr.  Hunter's  expression  of  solicitude  to 
be  for  the  colored  people  of  the  South,  who,  always  having 
been  cared  for  by  their  masters,  as  Mr.  Hunter  is  reported 
to  have  said,  would  be  unable  properly  to  live  without  such 
care.  But  this  change  is  false  to  history  and  causes  the  whole 
scene,  including  the  illustration  itself,  to  appear  flat  and  in- 
significant. Strange  indeed  would  it  have  been  for  Mr. 
Hunter  to  present  such  a  plea  for  the  colored  people  by  whose 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  543 

toil  the  white  population  had  been  supported  and  made  rich. 
Stranger  still  would  it  have  been  for  Mr.  Seward,  the  ready 
and  resourceful  debater,  to  be  silenced  by  such  an  argument 
instead  of  being  aroused  instantly  to  an  expression  of  confi- 
dence in  the  ability  of  the  colored  people  to  provide  for  their 
own  needs  since  they  had  wrought  so  effectively  for  the  sup- 
port and  wealth  of  their  masters. 

And  most  remarkable  of  all  would  it  have  been  for  Mr. 
Lincoln  to  have  replied  to  a  slave  holder's  plea  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  slavery  by  a  story  at  the  expense  of  the  Negro 
slaves.  It  was,  however,  characteristic  of  Mr.  Lincoln  thus 
to  turn  the  tables  upon  those  with  whom  he  was  in  argument, 
and  this  story  was  part  of  an  argument  he  was  holding  with 
a  white  advocate  of  slavery.  Because  Mr.  Hunter's  plea  was 
for  the  white  people  of  the  South  who  would  be  helpless,  as 
he  claimed,  without  their  slaves,  the  story  was  overwhelming 
in  its  effect  and  closed  the  consideration  of  the  slavery  ques- 
tion. When  applied  as  it  was  to  those  who,  it  was  claimed, 
would  not  be  competent  to  provide  for  their  needs  without  the 
aid  of  the  Negro  slaves,  the  story  was  true  to  the  facts  in 
the  case;  slave  holders  were  unaccustomed  to  manual  labor 
and  were  unschooled  in  such  work.  It  was  unusually  severe 
for  Mr.  Lincoln,  yet  not  discourteous,  but  it  would  have  been 
cruel  if  Mr.  Hunter's  plea  had  been  for  the  colored  slaves, 
who  were  not  represented  at  that  conference  and  were  not 
themselves  asking  for  any  favors  save  the  freedom  which  had 
been  promised  them  by  the  voluntary  action  of  the  govern- 
ment. Doubly  cruel  would  that  story  have  been  if  it  had  been 
applied  to  the  colored  slaves,  every  one  of  whom,  as  far  as 
known,  v/as  loyal  and  true  to  the  Union  during  all  the  years 
of  the  Civil  War,  and  tens  of  thousands  of  whom  had  fought 
heroically  in  the  Union  army. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  story  derived  peculiar  force  from  the  fact 
that  the  slave-holding  population  of  the  South  had  come  to 
regard  labor  as  degrading,  and  some  of  their  leaders  had 
characterized  laboring  people,  whether  black  or  white,  as  the 


544    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

"mud-sills  of  society."  This  was  indignantly  resented  by  the 
people  of  the  North  who  at  the  time  this  story  was  told  by 
Mr.  Lincoln  would  not  have  relished  any  joke  at  the  expense 
of  the  colored  slaves,  but  were  greatly  pleased  to  have  the 
President  so  effectively  remind  the  slave  holders  of  the  divine 
decree  that  man  should  eat  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his  own 
face.  There  was  at  that  time  intense  feeling  on  this  subject 
and  the  antislavery  people  were  happy  at  the  prospect  of  such 
a  change  of  conditions  as  would  require  all  to  toil  or  suffer 
want. 

It  was  this  which  caused  the  story  to  be  so  popular  at 
the  time  and  to  produce  such  merriment  wherever  it  was  read 
or  related;  and  I  am  more  than  happy  to  have  preserved  it 
in  its  original  form  and  to  hand  it  on  as  an  authentic  con- 
tribution to  the  history  of  that  crisis  period.  I  have  not  the 
slightest  inclination  to  say  aught  that  will  reflect  unfavorably 
upon  those  who  were  formerly  yoked  with  the  institution  of 
slavery,  many  of  whom  were  unwillingly  connected  with  that 
institution,  having  inherited  slaves  from  their  ancestors,  and 
many  of  whom  sought  to  be  helpful  to  their  slaves  in  morality 
and  religion.  But  I  have  long  felt  that  this  story-argument 
by  President  Lincoln  should  go  into  history  in  the  form  in 
which  it  was  first  given  to  the  public  and  in  the  form  in  which 
it  has  significance  and  force. 

A  PATCHWORK  QUILT— HOW  IT  ANSWERED  LINCOLN'S 

PRAYER 

On  a  clear,  cold  Christmas  morning,  before  the  election 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  President,  young  David  Durand 
awakened  in  his  New  England  home  to  find  his  bed  covered 
by  an  exquisitely  beautiful  patchwork  quilt,  made  by  his 
mother,  and  by  her  spread  upon  his  bed  while  he  was  asleep. 
It  was  a  Christmas  gift  to  her  beloved  boy,  and  after  that 
morning  it  was  always  on  his  bed  in  the  old  home. 

The  blocks  of  the  quilt  were  of  uniform  pattern,  but  the 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  545 

small  pieces  of  which  those  blocks  were  composed  were  of 
great  variety  of  color,  figure  and  combination.  Young  Du- 
rand  was  peculiarly  fond  of  this  quilt,  which  always  reminded 
him  of  his  loving  mother's  solicitude  for  him.  It  was  the 
last  object  seen  by  him  at  night,  and  the  first  that  greeted  his 
vision  when  the  morning  came.  He  admired  the  skill  with 
which  the  small  fragments  of  many  garments  had  been,  by 
dextrous  needlework,  formed  into  shapely  blocks,  which,  in 
like  manner,  were  united  to  produce  this  cherished  covering 
for  his  bed. 

He  noted  the  chaste  and  aesthetic  association  of  colors, 
and  the  pleasing  harmony  which  prevailed  throughout  the 
quilt,  and  thus  in  his  receptive  nature  this  product  of  his 
mother's  industry  and  skill  became  a  potent  factor  for  his 
growth  and  culture  in  the  highest  qualities  of  worthy  man- 
hood. It  aided  him  to  appreciate  her  rare  domestic  genius 
and  accomplishments;  to  call  to  mind  and  meditate  upon  her 
,  loving  ministrations;  to  realize  the  cost  and  value  of  his 
earthly  comforts,  and  to  cherish  an  exalted  purpose  to  be 
worthy  of  his  priceless  heritage.  In  the  quiet  of  the  evening 
hour,  and  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  that  patchwork  quilt 
was  more  than  a  needed  and  appreciated  covering  for  his 
bed,  it  was  a  silent  evangel  of  God  to  his  expanding  soul. 

But  when  the  great  war  came,  David  responded  to  the 
call  for  troops,  and  as  a  member  of  the  loth  Connecticut 
Volunteers  he  quickly  reached  the  front  and  entered  upon  the 
hardships  and  dangers  of  army  life. 

When  the  magnitude  and  severity  of  the  struggle  came  to 
be  realized  it  was  discovered  that  the  Government,  suddenly 
called  to  defend  the  nation's  life,  could  not  by  existing  methods 
provide  for  all  the  needs  of  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  and 
sailors,  and  hence  in  June,  1861,  the  Sanitary  Commission 
was  organized  to  supplement  the  work  of  the  United  States 
Medical  Bureau.  It  was  supported  by  money  and  supplies 
contributed  by  the  people  of  every  loyal  state  in  the  Union. 
It  had  its  own  independent  system  of  transportation  and  was 


546    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

able  to  provide  for  emergencies  on  battlefields  and  in  hos- 
pitals in  advance  of  any  relief  which  the  Government  could 
afford. 

To  one  of  the  directors  of  this  beneficent  organization, 
President  Lincoln  gave  the  following  account  of  its  origin: 
"One  rainy  night  I  could  not  sleep ;  the  wounds  of  the  soldiers 
and  sailors  distressed  me;  their  pains  pierced  my  heart,  and 
I  asked  God  to  show  me  how  they  could  have  better  relief. 
After  wrestling  some  time  in  prayer,  He  put  the  plans  of  the 
Sanitary  Commission  in  my  mind,  and  they  have  been  carried 
out  pretty  much  as  God  gave  them  to  me  that  night." 

Soon  after  David's  enlistment  an  agent  of  this  Commis- 
sion called  at  his  Connecticut  home  to  solicit  contributions 
for  the  Army  and  Navy  Hospitals.  The  hearts  of  his  parents 
were  made  especially  responsive  to  this  call  by  remembrance 
of  their  own  soldier-boy,  and  one  of  their  contributions  was 
the  patchwork  quilt  which  they  took  from  David's  bed,  and 
sent  forth  upon  its  mission  of  loving  ministration. 

"It  is  hard  to  part  with  that  quilt,"  said  Mrs.  Durand, 
"for  it  is  a  constant  reminder  of  David.  It  was  always  on 
his  bed  and  he  seemed  to  love  it  dearly.  I  shall  miss  it, 
especially  when  I  am  in  his  room,  but  it  will  do  more  good 
in  the  Army  Hospitals  than  here  and  I  will  make  another  quilt 
for  David,  when  he  comes  home." 

Without  any  request  as  to  where  it  should  be  sent,  with- 
out any  thought  of  such  a  request,  these  godly  parents,  with 
some  hesitation  it  is  true,  but  with  Christian  cheerfulness, 
took  that  cherished  quilt  and  sent  it  forth  with  the  prayer 
that,  under  God,  it  might  be  helpful  to  some  suffering  soldier 
as  it  had  given  joy  and  comfort  to  the  beloved  one  who  had 
gone  out  from  his  home  at  his  country's  call.  And  He,  "who 
is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or 
think,"  heard  the  prayer  that  silently  arose  from  that  mother's 
heart,  and  Christmas  morning,  1862,  in  an  Army  Hospital 
away  down  in  Newbern,  North  Carolina,  David  awakened 
from  a  feverish  sleep  to  find  himself  lying  beneath  the  patch- 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  547 

work  quilt  which  for  years  had  covered  his  bed  at  home.  For 
a  time  he  was  bewildered  by  this  seeming  apparition.  He 
remembered  that  during  the  preceding  day  his  illness  was  at- 
tended by  delirium,  and  he  was  apprehensive  that  what  he 
saw  was  not  reality,  but  only  a  mental  vision  which  investiga- 
tion would  speedily  dispel. 

With  quick  and  nervous  movements  he  sat  erect  in  bed, 
and  seizing  the  beautiful  covering  in  his  hands,  closely  scanned 
each  block  only  to  be  assured  that  it  was  none  other  than  the 
quilt  his  mother  made  and  spread  upon  his  bed  that  Christmas 
morning  long  ago.  There  was  the  block  composed  of  pieces 
from  the  dresses  his  mother  wore,  and  near  by,  in  like  ar- 
rangement, were  the  familiar  fragments  of  his  sister's  prints 
and  plaids.  And  there,  also,  too  unique  ever  to  be  forgotten 
or  duplicated,  was  the  block  his  dear  old  grandmother  had 
"pieced"  from  materials  she  had  selected  for  her  own  attire. 
Each  block  in  the  quilt  was  a  valid  mark  of  identification, 
and  trembling  with  intense  excitement  he  called  the  hospital 
steward  and  said,  "Where  did  you  get  this  quilt?" 

Observing  his  excitement,  the  steward  calmly  answered, 
"I  got  it  in  the  storeroom  where  such  supplies  are  kept.  Why 
do  you  ask?" 

"I  ask,"  the  agitated  soldier  almost  shouted,  "because  this 
quilt  was  made  by  my  mother  for  my  bed  at  home.  It  is  the 
very  same  one.  I  know  it  is.  The  last  night  I  spent  at  home 
I  slept  under  it  as  I  had  done  for  years,  and  when  I  left  for 
the  front  this  quilt  was  on  my  bed  in  Derby,  Connecticut. 
How,  then,  did  it  come  to  be  here,  in  this  Army  Hospital, 
hundreds  of  miles  from  my  home,  and  how  did  it  come  to  be 
here  on  my  cot  ?  Was  it  sent  to  me  ?  And  did  you,  knowing 
it  was  mine,  have  it  spread  upon  my  cot  while  I  was  asleep? 
Tell  me,  please,  how  did  it  all  come  about?" 

But  the  steward  could  give  no  satisfactory  answers  to 
these  questions  which  came  in  rapid  succession,  like  shots 
from  a  repeating  rifle.  The  quilt,  he  said,  had  come  with 
other  supplies  contributed  by  the  people,  and  without  any 


548     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

knowledge  of  its  history,  it  had  been  placed  upon  that  cot, 
when,  on  the  preceding  day,  David  was  admitted  to  the  hos- 
pital. Beyond  that,  the  steward  could  give  him  no  informa- 
tion. 

But  He  who  said,  "Cast  thy  bread  upon  the  waters  for 
thou  shalt  find  it  after  many  days,"  knew  all  about  it. 

And  for  some  great  and  good  purpose  of  His  own,  He 
had  taken  from  that  mother's  trembling  hands  her  contribu- 
tion to  the  Sanitary  Commission,  and  by  process  of  His  own 
choosing,  had  conveyed  it  all  the  way  from  Connecticut  to 
that  Army  Hospital.  And  during  the  night  preceding  that 
Christmas  morning  He  had  caused  the  quilt  to  be  spread  upon 
the  cot  on  which  that  mother's  fever-stricken  and  delirious 
boy  was  sleeping. 

It  was  a  little  opening  in  the  curtains  that  conceals  from 
view  the  infinite  realm  in  which  are  constantly  conducted  the 
operations  by  which  the  grace  of  God  ministers  to  human 
needs.  There  is  just  enough  of  such  disclosures  of  Divine 
oversight  to  give  assurance  that  in  all  things,  and  at  all  times, 
our  heavenly  Father  is  caring  for  His  children  and  is  making 
more  effective  than  we  have  dared  to  hope,  all  our  efforts  to 
promote  His  cause  and  to  help  our  fellowmen. 

After  his  brief  illness,  young  Durand  informed  his  parents 
that  he  had  discovered  his  favorite  quilt  in  an  Army  Hospital, 
and  asked  if  they  could  explain  its  being  there.  To  this  letter 
his  father  made  prompt  reply,  as  follows: 

"You  speak  of  seeing  a  bed-quilt  at  the  Hospital  that  you 
thought  you  knew.  Most  likely,  for  your  mother  gave  a  quilt, 
a  woollen  blanket,  a  pair  of  sheets,  and  some  table-cloths 
for  old  linen.  The  quilt  was  the  one  you  used  to  sleep  under 
at  home.  It  must  have  looked  like  an  old  friend  in  a  strange 
land." 

HIS  IAST  PICTURE 

"About  the  last  of  February,  1865,  Mr.  H.  F.  Warren, 
a  photographer  of  Waltham,  Mass.,  left  home,  intending,  if 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  549 

practicable,  to  visit  the  army  in  front  of  Richmond  and  Peters- 
burg. Arriving  in  Washington  on  the  morning  of  the  4th 
of  March,  and  finding  it  necessary  to  procure  passes  to  carry 
out  the  end  he  had  in  view,  he  concluded  to  remain  there 
until  the  inauguration  ceremonies  were  over,  and,  having  car- 
ried with  him  all  the  apparatus  necessary  for  taking  negatives, 
he  decided  to  try  to  secure  a  sitting  from  the  President. 

"At  that  time  rumors  of  plots  and  dangers  had  caused 
the  friends  of  President  Lincoln  to  urge  upon  him  the 
necessity  of  a  guard,  and,  as  he  had  finally  permitted  the 
presence  of  such  a  body,  an  audience  with  him  was  somewhat 
difficult.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  6th  of  March,  Mr.  Warren 
sought  a  presentation  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  but  found,  after  con- 
sulting with  the  guard,  that  an  interview  could  be  had  on 
that  day  in  only  a  somewhat  irregular  manner.  After  some 
conversation  with  the  officer  in  charge,  who  became  convinced 
of  his  loyalty,  Mr.  Warren  was  admitted  within  the  lines, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  was  given  to  understand  that  the  surest 
way  to  obtain  an  audience  with  the  President  was  through 
the  intercession  of  his  little  son  'Tad.'  The  latter  was  a  great 
pet  with  the  soldiers,  and  was  constantly  at  their  barracks, 
and  soon  made  his  appearance,  mounted  upon  his  pony.  He 
and  the  pony  were  soon  placed  in  position  and  photographed, 
after  which  Mr.  W'arren  asked  Tad'  to  tell  his  father  that 
a  man  had  come  all  the  way  from  Boston,  and  was  particu- 
larly anxious  to  see  him  and  obtain  a  sitting  from  him.  'Tad' 
went  to  see  his  father,  and  word  was  soon  returned  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  would  comply.  In  the  meantime  Mr.  Warren  had 
improvised  a  kind  of  studio  upon  the  south  balcony  of  the 
White  House.  Mr.  Lincoln  soon  came  out,  and  saying  but  a 
very  few  words,  took  his  seat  as  indicated.  After  a  single 
negative  was  taken,  he  inquired:  'Is  that  all,  sir?'  Unwill- 
ing to  detain  him  longer  than  was  absolutely  necessary,  Mr. 
Warren  replied,  'Yes,  sir/  and  the  President  immediately 
withdrew.  At  the  time  he  appeared  upon  the  balcony  the 
wind  was  blowing  freshly,  as  his  disarranged  hair  indicates, 


550     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

and,  as  sunset  was  rapidly  approaching,  it  was  difficult  to 
obtain  a  sharp  picture.  Six  weeks  later  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
dead,  and  it  is  doubtless  true  that  this  is  the  last  photograph 
ever  made  of  him."* 

In  no  picture  of  Mr.  Lincoln  which  I  have  seen  is  there 
more  expression  than  in  this,  but  it  is  expression  peculiar  to 
this  photograph.  It  reveals  his  feelings  at  the  time  the  nega- 
tive was  taken,  not  irritation  but  repressed  regret  at  having 
been  interrupted  and  taken  away  from  work.  The  poise  of 
his  head,  his  knit  brows,  and  piercing  eye  all  indicate  the  feel- 
ings of  a  busy  man  yielding  reluctantly  to  a  request  he  is 
unwilling  to  refuse.  Dear  little  "Tad!"  we  are  indebted  to 
him  for  this  priceless  picture. 

OITE  LETTER  WBONG 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  first  inaugurated  President  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1861.  During  the  winter  preceding  that  event 
he  prepared,  at  Springfield,  with  very  great  care,  his  exceed- 
ingly able  inaugural  address  which  effectively  forecast  his 
entire  administration  and  left  those  who  were  enlisting  in 
rebellion  no  excuse  for  the  course  they  were  pursuing.  He 
also  called  a  special  session  of  Congress  to  meet  on  the  Fourth 
of  July  following  his  inauguration.  A  brief  message  out- 
lining the  immediate  needs  of  the  government  was  presented 
at  that  special  session. 

The  regular  annual  meeting  of  Congress  occurred  on  the 
3rd  of  December,  1861,  and  to  this  session  of  Congress  the 
President  presented  his  first  regular  message.  There  was  a 
fact  connected  with  this  message  which  seemed,  at  the  time, 
to  attract  very  little  attention,  but  it  is  so  peculiar  and  sug- 
gestive that  in  my  opinion  it  should  have  a  place  in  history. 
It  would  be  difficult  for  one  not  living  in  this  country  at  that 
time  to  realize  the  extent  to  which  strife  and  contention  pre- 
vailed among  loyal  people  of  the  nation  during  the  period 

*  Century  Magazine,  Vol.  2,  p.  852. 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  551 

between  the  President's  inauguration  on  the  4th  of  March 
and  the  presentation  of  his  first  regular  message  to  Congress 
in  December. 

Early  in  an  administration  many  appointments  to  office 
are  made  by  the  President.  This  always  leads  to  contention 
and  strife,  and  at  the  time  referred  to  this  contention  was 
far  greater  than  usual,  for,  with  the  change  of  Presidents, 
there  was  also  a  change  of  the  party  in  power  which  leads 
to  the  removal  of  many  who  were  holding  office,  and  of  the 
filling  of  their  places  by  others  in  harmony  with  the  adminis- 
tration. During  the  period  referred  to,  the  Rebellion  was  in 
progress  and  caused  sharp  differences  of  opinion  among  the 
loyal  people.  In  addition  to  this  there  was  a  nation-wide 
and  constantly  growing  struggle  between  the  radical  and  con- 
servative wings  of  the  party  in  power  respecting  the  policy 
which  should  be  pursued  by  the  government  concerning  the 
institution  of  slavery. 

There  were  some  who  at  that  time  believed  the  adminis- 
tration should  at  once  resort  to  extreme  measures  for  the 
immediate  destruction  of  slavery  as  a  righteous  retribution 
for  a  great  wrong  and  also  as  a  means  for  the  preservation 
of  the  nation.  The  other  wing  of  the  party  was  in  heart  and 
spirit  opposed  to  slavery  but  feared  that  any  action  of  the 
government  against  that  institution  would  divide  the  loyal 
people  and  endanger  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

From  earliest  recollection  I  had  been  an  ardent  abolition- 
ist, therefore  my  sympathies  were  with  the  radical  portion  of 
the  loyal  people.  But  I  was  always  a  devoted  friend  and 
admirer  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  fully  believed,  and  openly 
declared  that,  as  early  as  was  safe  to  do  so,  he  would  pursue 
the  course  we  desired.  But  my  opposition  to  slavery  was  so 
pronounced  that  I  was  in  close  party  fellowship  with  the  radi- 
cals, attending  their  special  meetings,  and  thus  being  kept 
constantly  informed  respecting  their  plans  relative  to  slavery. 

During  all  that  summer  and  autumn  it  was  hoped  that  in 
his  forthcoming  regular  message  President  Lincoln  would 


552     LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

make  known  his  policy  upon  this  subject,  and  well  do  I  re- 
member with  what  impatience  I  waited  for  the  appearance 
of  that  message,  and  with  what  a  degree  of  interest  I  secured 
and  read  a  copy  telegraphed  to  the  papers  throughout  the 
nation  on  the  day  it  was  presented  to  Congress.  In  those 
days  the  President's  message,  when  delivered  to  Congress, 
was  telegraphed  to  the  newspapers  throughout  the  country 
and  was  by  those  papers  published  with  more  or  less  fullness 
the  next  day.  After  it  had  been  delivered  to  Congress  a 
printed  copy  of  the  message  was  also  mailed  to  the  news- 
papers throughout  the  country,  and  when  it  was  received  was 
helpful  in  correcting  any  errors  which  might  have  crept  into 
the  copy  which  previously  had  been  sent  by  wire. 

The  next  day  after  that  message  was  presented  to  Con- 
gress I  secured  a  paper  at  my  Ohio  home  containing  the 
full  text  of  the  message  as  sent  by  wire  to  the  newspapers. 
With  intense  interest  I  at  once  gave  attention  to  this  im- 
portant document,  and  in  so  doing  soon  found  the  following: 

"We  should  not  be  in  haste  to  determine  what  radical  and 
extreme  measures  which  may  reach  the  loyal  as  well  as  the 
disloyal,  are  indispensable." 

Many  times  I  read  this  passage  with  inexpressible  delight 
assured  that  it  could  not  be  less  than  an  implied  declaration 
by  the  President  that  "radical  and  extreme  measures"  were 
or  would  be  needed,  but  that  "we  should  not  be  in  haste  to 
determine"  what  measures  of  that  character  to  choose.  Of 
course,  we  were  expected  to  employ  "radical  and  extreme 
measures,"  or  the  government  would  not  thus  proclaim  its 
purpose  to  select  such  measures  with  care  and  deliberation. 
In  my  exuberance  of  spirits  I  could  see  slavery  speedily  vanish 
under  such  a  wise  and  timely  policy. 

But  all  this  depended  upon  just  one  letter  remaining  in 
the  place  it  occupied  in  the  portion  of  that  message  above 
quoted.  To  substitute  for  that  one  letter  another  letter  which 
might  be  chosen  would  change  the  policy  of  the  administra- 
tion from  radical  to  conservative,  and  would  cause  our  vision 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  553 

of  the  immediate  and  utter  overthrow  of  slavery  to  vanish 
like  a  dream. 

And  that  is  just  what  occurred.  The  correct  message, 
when  it  appeared  a  few  days  later,  printed  just  as  President 
Lincoln  wrote  it  with  "t"  occupying  the  place  which  the  tele- 
graph operator  assigned  to  "w,"  thereby  changed  "what"  to 
"that,"  and  indicated  that  President  Lincoln  would  not  "be 
in  haste"  to  commit  the  government  to  the  emancipation 
policy. 

I  can  feel  today  painful  remnants  of  the  disappointment 
I  experienced  when  my  high  hopes  of  an  immediate  declara- 
tion of  emancipation  were  thus  dashed  to  the  ground.  It  was 
not  long,  however,  until  it  became  evident  to  the  most  radical 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  supporters  that  he  was  pursuing  the  wise 
and  proper  course. 

On  page  52,  Volume  VII.,  Complete  Works  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  is  the  sentence  here  referred  to.  Many  times  during 
the  last  five  decades  I  have  spoken  of  the  remarkable  error 
in  its  first  publication,  and  no  one  to  whom  I  ever  have 
mentioned  the  matter  had  any  previous  knowledge  of  the 
occurrence.  Such  an  error  could  not  now  occur  in  the  pub- 
lication of  a  regular  message  of  the  President,  as  that  docu- 
ment is  now  sent  in  printed  form  to  the  newspapers  in  ad- 
vance, and  is  released  for  publication  when  it  is  presented  to 
Congress.  The  magnitude  of  the  task  of  transmitting  the 
message  by  telegraph,  as  was  formerly  the  custom,  is  indicated 
by  the  following  from  the  New  York  Tribune  of  March  5th, 
1861: 

"The  manner  in  which  President  Lincoln's  (first)  inau- 
gural was  transmitted  by  telegraph  is  deserving  special  com- 
mendation. The  American  Telegraph  Company,  under  the 
able  management  of  E.  S.  Sanford,  Esq.,  vice-president, 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Associated  Press  three  wires  be- 
tween Washington  and  this  city.  The  delivery  of  the  inau- 
gural commenced  at  1:30  o'clock  Washington  time,  and  the 
telegraphers  promptly  to  the  minute  began  its  transmission 


554    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

to  New  York.  The  first  words  of  the  message  were  received 
by  the  agent  of  the  press  here  at  1:45  o'clock  and  the  last 
at  about  three  thirty,  while  the  entire  document  was  furnished 
to  the  different  newspapers  by  4:00  o'clock.  Such  rapidity 
in  telegraphic  communication  has  never  before  been  reached 
in  this  country,  and  it  should  be  a  source  of  pride  to  the 
American  Company,  and  its  president  and  operators,  that  so 
notable  an  act  has  been  accomplished.  We  understand  that  a 
full  synopsis  of  the  inaugural  was  yesterday  evening  trans- 
mitted to  St.  Johns,  N.  R,  thence  to  be  forwarded  by  steam 
tug  to  intercept  the  Steamship  Fulton,  bound  to  Europe,  off 
Cape  Race." 

LINCOLN'S  CHASTENESS  IN  CONVEBSATION 

Major  Hay  and  Mr.  Nicolay,  Mr.  Lincoln's  secretaries, 
were  members  of  his  household  during  a  large  portion  of  his 
official  term — Mr.  Carpenter,  the  artist,  lived  in  the  White 
House  during  six  months — Professor  Henry  sought  every 
opportunity  to  be  with  him,  and  these  four  witnesses,  who 
saw  him  in  his  unconstrained  private  life,  agree  that  neither 
of  them  heard  from  Mr.  Lincoln's  lips  any  sentence  or  word 
which  might  not  have  been  repeated  in  the  presence  of  ladies. 
The  subject  is  one  upon  which  I  can  give  evidence.  It  was 
a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  listen  to  him,  and  I  have  several 
times  sought  to  excite  his  propensity  for  anecdote  with  suc- 
cess. In  my  own  office,  where  no  one  but  a  messenger  was 
present,  he  was  under  no  restraint.  Yet  I  never  heard  him 
relate  a  story  or  utter  a  sentence  which  I  could  not  have 
repeated  to  my  wife  and  daughters — L.  E.  Chittenden. 

HIS  FAVOEITE  SONG 

In  the  winter  of  1863  President  Lincoln  attended  an  anni- 
versary meeting  of  the  Christian  Commission,  held  in  the  hall 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  at  Washington.  With  char- 
acteristic modesty  he  declined  a  seat  on  the  platform,  but 


STORIES  ABOUT  LINCOLN  555 

manifested  deep  interest  in  the  proceedings.  During  the 
program  Philip  Phillips  sang  "Your  Mission,"  a  song  very 
popular  at  that  time.  Near  the  close  of  the  exercises  the  Pres- 
ident quietly  sent  the  presiding  officer  the  following  note: 
"Please  have  Mr.  Phillips  repeat  the  song — Your  Mission. 
Do  not  say  I  called  for  it." 

It  was  not  my  good  fortune  to  be  present  on  that  occa- 
sion, but  two  years  later  I  attended  a  similar  affair  and  heard 
Mr.  Phillips  relate  the  foregoing  incident  while  holding  in 
his  hands  Mr.  Lincoln's  written  request.  Looking  down  at 
the  reporters  who  sat  before  him,  Mr.  Phillips  said  to  us,  "Do 
not  think  you  will  get  this,  gentlemen  of  the  press,  for  you 
will  not.  Copy  it  as  I  read  it,  if  you  wish,  but  you  cannot 
have  it  at  any  price."  We  gladly  accepted  this  invitation  and 
the  reader  here  has  the  note  just  as  it  was  read  by  Mr. 
Phillips. 

The  following  is  the  song  referred  to: 


YOUR  MISSION 

If  you  cannot  on  the  ocean 

Sail  among  the  swiftest  fleet, 
Rocking  on  the  highest  billow, 

Laughing  at  the  storms  you  meet, 
You  can  stand  among  the  sailors, 

Anchored  yet  within  the  bay, 
You  can  lend  a  hand  to  help  them, 

As  they  launch  their  boats  away. 

If  you  are  too  weak  to  journey 

Up  the  mountain,  steep  and  high, 
You  can  stand  within  the  valley, 

Where  the  multitudes  go  by. 
You  can  chant  in  happy  measure, 

As  they  slowly  pass  along; 
Though  they  may  forget  the  singer, 

They  will  not  forget  the  song. 


556    LATEST  LIGHT  ON  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

If  you  cannot,  in  the  harvest, 

Gather  up  the  richest  sheaves, 
Many  a  grain  both  ripe  and  golden, 

Oft  the  careless  reaper  leaves — 
Go  and  glean  among  the  briars 

Growing  rank  against  the  wall, 
For  it  may  be  that  their  shadow 

Hides  the  heaviest  wheat  of  all. 

If  you  have  not  gold  and  silver 

Ever  ready  to  command ; 
If  you  cannot  toward  the  needy 

Reach  an  ever  open  hand ; 
You  can  visit  the  afflicted, 

O'er  the  erring  you  can  weep, 
With  the  Saviour's  true  disciples, 

You  a  patient  watch  may  keep. 

If  you  cannot  in  the  conflict 

Prove  yourself  a  soldier  true, 
If  where  fire  and  smoke  are  thickest, 

There's  no  work  for  you  to  do, 
When  the  battlefield  is  silent, 

You  can  go  with  careful  tread, 
You  can  bear  away  the  wounded, 

You  can  cover  up  the  dead. 

Do  not,  then,  stand  idly  waiting 

For  some  greater  work  to  do ; 
Fortune  is  a  lazy  goddess, 

She  will  never  come  to  you. 
Go  and  toil  in  any  vineyard, 

Do  not  fear  to  do  or  dare, 
If  you  want  a  field  of  labor, 

You  can  find  it  anywhere. 

— Mrs.  Ellen  Huntington  Gates. 
English  Hymns,  258. 


INDEX 

This  Index  was  prepared  by  Rev.  James  M.  Campbell,  D.D. 


Abraham  Lincoln  and  the  Civil  War, 
James  R.  Gilmore,  75,  83,  84,  87, 

239 

Abraham  Lincoln,  a  History,  Nicolay 
and  Hay,  20,  21,  32,  58,  136,  137, 
192,  195,  201,  223,  256,  455 

Abraham  Lincoln,  D.  D.  Thompson, 
388 

Abraham  Lincoln,  and  Men  of  His 
Time,  Robert  Browne,  301,  332, 
340,  380,  412 

Abraham  Lincoln,  Man  Inspired  by 
God,  a  Lecture,  Col.  Henry  Wat- 
terson,  13 

Abraham  Lincoln  and  His  Presidency, 
225 

Abraham  Lincoln,  The  Tribute  of  a 
Century,  34 

Abraham  Lincoln,  Tributes  from  his 
Associates,  108,  144,  416 

Advance,  The,  quoted,  384 

Age  of  Reason,  Paine's,  Lincoln's 
repudiation  of,  301 

American  Conflict,  The,  Horace, 
Greeley,  468 

A  Mother's  Plea,  a  Lincoln  story,  251 

Analysis,  New  York  Vote,  for  Lin- 
coln and  McClellan,  131 

Ancestry  of  Lincoln,  17-19;  his  grand- 
father Abraham,  17;  tragedy  of 
his  death,  17;  independent  and 
resourceful,  17;  of  sturdy  moral 
qualities,  18;  his  father  Thomas, 
17;  his  e«cape  from  an  early  death, 
17;  a  typical  frontiersman,  18; 
mild-mannered,  18;  of  nomadic 
habits,  19;  his  anti-slavery  senti- 
ments, 19;  his  high  moral  worth,  19 


Andrew,  Governor  of  Mass.,  his 
impatience  with  Lincoln,  227 

Antietam,  Battle  of,  its  effect  upon 
the  Union  Cause,  229 

A  Patch-work  Quilt,  a  Lincoln  story, 
598 

Appearance,  personal,  of  Lincoln, 
43-82;  generally  caricatured,  43; 
his  great  height,  45 ;  his  erect  figure, 
45;  his  majestic  bearing,  45,  46; 
athletic,  46;  of  great  strength,  46; 
his  presence-power,  47,  48;  look  of 
intellectuality,  48;  absence  of  self- 
consciousness,  49;  a  king  among 
men,  49;  imposing  on  platform,  50; 
finely  proportioned,  52,  53 ;  shapely 
hands,  54,  67;  his  dress  becoming, 
56;  refined  and  courteous,  57; 
appeal  from  literature  to  art,  59-61 ; 
massive  head,  71;  harmonious  and 
pleasing,  71;  inspiring,  71;  his 
expressive  eyes,  75;  his  habitual 
melancholy,  76-78;  his  unattract- 
ive lower  lip,  81 ;  mouth  indicative 
of  gentleness  and  firmness,  82 

Arnold,  Hon.  Isaac  N.,  demands 
death  of  slavery,  272;  on  Lincoln's 
Second  Inaugural  Address,  296; 
on  a  moment  of  apocalypse,  393 

Ashley,  Hon.  James  M.,  on  Lincoln's 
consummate  ability  as  a  public 
speaker,  52;  his  Toledo  Anti- 
Slavery  address,  180;  his  bill  for 
abolishing  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  208;  his  masterly 
handling  of  discussion  on  Consti- 
tutional Amendment,  -250;  his 
success  in  carrying  it  through,  269; 


557 


558 


INDEX 


his  unwavering  loyalty  to  Lincoln, 
498 
Autobiography,   Andrew   D.   White, 

73,  75,  76,  482,  533 
Author,  The;  his  long  and  careful 
preparation  for  writing  this  book, 
7;  his  personal  touch  with  men 
and  events,  8;  his  special  literary 
"find"  in  the  Diary  of  Dr.  Gurley, 
8 ;  his  correction  of  numerous  errors 
8;  his  exposure  of  the  Herndon 
slander,  9:  his  complete  forth- 
setting  of  Lincoln's  religious  ex- 
perience, 10;  his  participation  in 
national  movements,  120;  his  op- 
position to  false  claims,  of  Peace 
party,  129;  his  part  in  anti-saloon 
movement,  170;  his  marching  in 
the  Fremont  procession,  188; 
his  explanation  of  Lincoln's  utter- 
ance touching  the  issuing  of  Eman- 
cipation Declaration,  229;  on 
struggle  for  Constitutional  Amend- 
ment, 255;  his  reminiscences  of 
Second  Inauguration,  277;  the 
birth-hour  of  his  book,  277;  his 
sense  of  Lincoln's  transcendent 
greatness,  282-285;  private  Sec- 
retary of  Hon.  James  M.  Ashley, 
486;  thoroughly  conversant  with 
the  inner  political  Washington  cir- 
cle, 486;  a  keen  and  careful  ob- 
server of  the  trend  of  the  times,  487 
A  Scoffer  Weeps,  a  Lincoln  Story,  542 
A  Slave  Mother's  Prayer,  A  Lincoln 
story,  542 

Bancroft,  Hon.  George,  his  letter 
to  Lincoln  on  Abolition  of  Slavery 
as  the  Issue  of  the  War,  22 1 

Bartlett,  Truman,  on  transfiguration 
of  Lincoln's  face,  51;  his  denial  of 
the  description  of  Lincoln  as  home- 
ly, 59, 63;  on  Lincoln's  lower  lip,  82 

Bateman,  Dr.  Newton,  his  intimate 
relation  with  Lincoln,  351;  con- 
fidences reposed  in  him,  253;  gives 


light  from  within,   353;    on  Lin- 
coln's religious  dissatisfaction,  401 ; 
on   his   disappointment    with    the 
churches,  437,  438 
Behind  the  Scenes,  Elizabeth  Keckley, 

309 

Bible,  the,  Lincoln's  unqualified  ac- 
ceptance of  its  teachings,  its  mold- 
ing influence  upon  his  life,  its  large 
use  in  his  public  utterances,  299- 

3H. 

Benjamin,  Judah  P.,  his  account  of 
interview  between  Gilmore  and 
Jaquess,  and  Mr.  Davids,  134 

Binns,  Henry,  his  inconsistency  touch- 
ing the  illegitimacy  scandal,  26 

Birth  of  the  Republican  Party  in 
Illinois,  184 

Blair,  Senator,  his  comment  on 
Lincoln's  temperance  principles, 

158 

Elaine,  James  G.,  on  validity  of 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  240 

Borglum,  Gutzon,  the  Sculptor, 
his  description  of  Lincoln,  45,  53, 
59;  his  characterization  of  life- 
mask,  63 

Boutwell,  Hon.  George  S.,  on  sadness 
of  Lincoln's  face  when  at  rest,  76 

Brady's  photograph  of  Lincoln, 
56 

Bramlette,  Governor  of  Kentucky, 
letter  of  Lincoln  to,  346 

Brockett,  Dr.  L.  P.,  on  religious  life 
of  Nancy  Hanks,  22 

Brooks,  Noah,  his  high  estimate  of 
Nancy  Hanks,  21;  his  vivid  de- 
scription of  Lincoln's  appearance, 
69;  on  Lincoln's  prayer  life,  378; 
on  his  self -depreciation,  402 

Browne,  Dr.  Robert,  on  Lincoln's 
estimate  of  moral  influence  of  the 
Bible,  301;  on  his  habitual  use  of 
it,  310;  on  his  close  communion 
with  God,  380 

Browne,  Francis  Fisher,  on  Lincoln's 
maternal  inheritance,  24 


INDEX 


559 


Browning,  Senator,  H.,  Lincoln's 
letter  to,  on  the  Fremont  procla- 
mation, 198 

Bryant,  John  Howard,  Lincoln's  host, 
66 

Burst  of  sunshine  at  Second  Inau- 
guration, 281 

Cameron,  Simeon,  his  attempt  to 
force  Lincoln's  hand,  206;  his 
appointment  as  minister  to  Rus- 
sia, 207 

Carpenter,  F.  B.,  on  pensive  and 
tender  look  in  Lincoln's  eyes,  74; 
his  mistake  at  first  regarding  "prep- 
aration" of  Emancipation  Procla- 
mation, 225;  Lincoln's  explanation 
regarding  the  purpose  of  withhold- 
ing it,  229 

Carruth,  Dr.  W.  H.,  on  prenatal 
influence,  28 

Century  Magazine,  The,  45,  55,  56, 
62,  67,  74,  77,  79,  Vol.  2,  p.  852 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  his  modification 
of  Ashley's  Emancipation  Declara- 
tion adopted,  235 

Chicago,  delegation  of  preachers,  urg- 
ing radical  anti-slavery  measures, 
231;  Lincoln's  apprehensions,  224 

Chiniquy,  Father,  Lincoln's  soul  re- 
vealings  to,  328,  329;  his  inter- 
view with  the  President,  375 

Chittenden,  Hon.  L.  E.,  on  Lin- 
coln's reverence  for  the  Bible,  302 ; 
his  belief  in  the  power  of  prayer, 
334;  his  conviction  that  he  was 
divinely  called,  340 

Choate,  Hon.  Joseph  H.,  on  Lincoln's 
awkwardness,  34 

Chronicle,  The  Washington,  report 
of  Lincoln's  "latest,  shortest  and 
best  speech,"  439 

Church,  The,  Lincoln's  appreciation 
of  it,  430;  his  support  of  its  ordi- 
nances, 430;  his  reasons  for  not 
joining  it,  435-440;  his  ultimate 
intention  to  unite  with  it,  440 


Clean  Hands,  A  Lincoln  Story,  536 

Coffin,  Charles  Carlton,  on  queenly 
appearance  of  Nancy  Hanks,  23 

Cogsdale,  Isaac,  on  Lincoln's  view  of 
the  Atonement,  326 

Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, 118,  125,  139,  145,  188,  190, 

191,   207,  217,   220,   223,   224,   235, 

237,  244,  245,  261,  306,  307,  311, 

3i6,  389,  391,  394,  406,  411,  416, 
417,  418,  421,  423,  453,  465 

Congressional  Globe,  173 

Conkling,  Senator,  his  defense  of  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  237 

Cooper  Institue  Speech,  Lincoln's,  189 

Constitutional  Amendment,  249-274; 
in  the  crucible,  249,  250;  as  finally, 
shaped,  251;  its  failure  to  secure 
a  two- thirds  majority  vote,  252; 
General  Ashley's  strategy,  252; 
a  battle  royal,  253;  effects  of  de- 
struction of  slavery  feared,  254; 
campaign  conducted  by  General 
Ashley,  257;  impetus  given  to 
movement  by  re-election  of  Lin- 
coln, 259;  foreshadowed  in  annual 
message  of  1864,  261;  success  for 
a  time  doubtful,  262;  General 
Ashley's  flank  movement,  263; 
ineffectual  attempt  of  Southern 
Peace  Committee  to  reach  Wash- 
ington, 265;  Speaker  Colfax's  fate- 
ful vote,  268;  intense  excitement 
on  passage  of  the  measure,  270;  an 
epoch-making  event,  268 ;  final  vote 
in  the  House  on  anti-partisan  vic- 
tory, 270 ;  analysis  of  vote,  271;  Lin- 
coln crowned  as  Emancipator,  274 

Conversion,  Lincoln's,  395-397 

Corwin,  Hon.  Thomas,  author  of 
Constitutional  Amendment,  192 

Court  in  a  Cornfield,  A  Lincoln  Story, 

537 
Courageous  Fidelity,  A  Lincoln  Story, 

537 

Crook, Col.  W.  H.,  on  Lincoln's  Bible- 
reading  habit,  308 


560 


INDEX 


Cuyler,  Dr.  Theodore  L.,  impressions 
of  Lincoln's  appearance,  45;  com- 
plimented by  Lincoln,  58;  on 
Lincoln's  mental  anguish,  390 

Curtis,  George  William,  on  spell  of 
Lincoln's  portrait,  72,  73;  on  Lin- 
coln's consolatary  view  of  death, 

391 

Curtis,  William  Eleroy,  on  Thomas 
Lincoln,  19 

Davis,  Jefferson,  his  interview  with 
Gilmore  and  Jaquess,  112;  his 
contention  that  the  South  was 
fighting  for  independence  and  not 
for  Slavery,  126;  manifesto  of 
peace  only  by  independence,  130 
Davis,  Senator  Garrett,  his  dread  of 

emancipation,  248 

Deming,  Hon.  H.  G.,  on  Lincoln's 
patience    and    courage,    54;     on 
radiancy  of  Lincoln's  smile,  74 
De  Soto,  picture  of  in  the  Capitol,  43 
Diary  of  Gideon  Welles,  quoted,  228 
Diary  of  Dr.  Gurley,  extracts  from, 

500-5" 
"Discoveries    and    Improvements," 

Lincoln's  lecture  on,  303 
Dispatch,  The  Richmond  Daily,  134 
Doolittle,    Senator,    Lincoln's   letter 

to,  320,  389 
Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  the  little  giant, 

34;    a  helpful  opponent,  35;    his 

debate    with    Lincoln,     187;     his 

magnanimous  spirit,  34 
Dow,  General  Neal,  his  release  from 

Libby    Prison,     108;      author    of 

Maine  prohibitory  law,  161 
Down  in  Tennessee,  135 

East  Baltimore  Conference,  Lin- 
coln's reply  to,  349 

Emancipation  Proclamation,  219-248 ; 
state  action,  not  governmental 
edict,  Lincoln's  plan,  220;  pres- 
sure enormous,  221;  insistence  on 
by  Andrew,  Greeley,  and  others, 
222;  address  to  deputation  of 


Chicago  ministers,  223;  gradual 
change  of  view,  224;  corrected  his- 
tory of  preparation  of  Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation,  225;  message 
to  Congress  asking  for  Compensa- 
tion and  gradual  emancipation,  228 ; 
second  draft  of  Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation presented  to  cabinet, 
229;  signed  and  published,  230; 
Greeley's  heartless  arraignment  of 
it,  230;  its  public  effect,  232;  its 
endorsement  by  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, 234;  only  preliminary, 
234;  final  form  gave  freedom  to 
slaves,  234 

Employment  of  colored  soldiers  in 
army,  245 

Eternal  felicity  in  heaven,  Lincoln's 
hope  in,  393;  letter  to  his  step- 
brother, 393;  touching  interview 
with  his  step-mother,  394;  his 
belief  in  reunion,  394 

Eugenics,  Twelve  University  Lec- 
tures, Dr.  W.  K.  Carruth,  28 

Eulogy  on  Lincoln,  Henry  Champion 
Deming,  431 

Eulogies  on  Lincoln,  Scrap  Book,  412 

Everyday  Life  of  Lincoln,  Francis 
F.  Browne,  418 

Evening  Post,  The,  New  York,  its 
statement  anent  vessels  for  slave 
trade,  180 

Everybody's  Magazine,  quoted,  68 

Everett,  Edward,  on  Lincoln's 
courtly  appearance,  56 

Fell,  J.  W.,  Lincoln's  letter  to,  407 
Fidelity  to  Emancipation,  Lincoln's 

237 

Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome, 
Father  Chiniquy,  342,  375, 423,  528 

Fortune's,  favorite,  Lincoln,  17;  good 
ancestry,  17;  good  mother,  23;  a 
good  beginning,  31 ;  good  discipline, 
32;  strong  friends  and  foes,  34; 
a  good  wife,  35;  good  spiritual 
advisers,  38 


INDEX 


Frankly  Confessed  His  Fault,  A 
Lincoln  Story,  533 

Fremont,  the  Sculptor,  his  charac- 
terization of  life-mask,  65 

Fremont,  Gen.  John  C.,  his  dec- 
laration of  martial  law  in  the  state 
of  Missouri,  194-202 

Fremiet,  Jessie  Benton,  her  effort  to 
keep  the  President  from  modifying 
her  husband's  proclamation,  197 

Friend's  Review,  quoted,  375 

From  Pioneer  Home  to  White  House, 
W.  M.  Thayer,  372,  378,  422,  429 

Future  Life,  Lincoln's  confidence  in, 
393;  held  man  was  made  for  im- 
mortality, 393 

Garfield,   Gen.   James  A.,   his  high 

esteem  of  Col.  Jaquess,  85 
Giddings,  J.  R.,  Lincoln's  letter  to, 

343 

Gilmore,  James  R.,  his  characteriza- 
tion of  Lincoln's  eyes,  75;  his  con- 
nection with  the  Jaquess  peace 
embassage,  85-87 

Gospel  ministers  who  came  into  Lin- 
coln's life,  38-40 

Grady,  Henry  W.,  on  Lincoln  as  the 
first  typical  American,  14 

Graham,  Meter,  his  testimony  con- 
cerning Lincoln's  manuscript,  326 

Greeley,  Horace,  on  the  spell  of 
Lincoln's  presence,  47;  on  political 
influence  of  the  Jaquess-Gilmore 
mission,  138;  his  fiery  protest 
against  Lincoln's  hesitancy  in  sign- 
ing the  Emancipation  Declara- 
tion, 227;  his  severe  arraignment 
of  it,  230 

Greeley  and  Lincoln,  441-494; 
Greeley  anti-slavery  standard- 
bearer,  441;  author's  early  rev- 
erence for  him,  441;  the  prophet 
of  the  abolition  movement,  442; 
its  one  plank,  442;  Greeley's  sup- 
port of  Fremont  for  presidency, 
443;  Lincoln's  nomination,  443;  the 


author's  dissatisfaction  with  his 
conservative  policy,  444;  Greeley's 
strong  endorsement  of  Lincoln's 
Cooper  Institute  speech,  444;  his 
preference  for  Douglas,  445;  his 
letter  to  Joseph  Medill,  445; 
Lincoln's  magnaminity,  446;  the 
Seward-Greeley  episode,  449,  450; 
Greeley's  reluctant  acceptance  of 
Lincoln's  nomination,  451;  a  pow- 
erful factor  in  Lincoln's  triumph, 
451;  his  advocacy  of  the  right  of 
secession,  452;  planting  the  seeds 
of  civil  war,  453;  efforts  of  Lin- 
coln to  stem  the  tide,  454;  Greeley's 
lack  of  practical  sagacity,  445; 
his  scheme  of  peaceful  separation 
painful  to  Lincoln,  457;  respon- 
sible for  precipitate  action,  458; 
heartless  criticism  of  Lincoln,  459; 
pessimistic  outlook,  461;  a.  somer- 
sault, 462;  Greeley's  proposal 
to  be  Lincoln's  mouthpiece,  462; 
Lincoln's  qualified  acceptance,  463; 
alliance  never  fully  consummated, 
464;  Greeley  a  continuous  em- 
barrassment, 466,  467;  his  open 
letter,  467;  Lincoln's  bland  reply, 
468;  like  oil  upon  the  troubled 
waters,  469;  Greeley's  enthusiastic 
support  of  Emancipation  Proclama- 
tion, 470,  471;  his  opposition  to 
Lincoln's  renomination,  473;  his 
abetment  of  Wade-Davis  faction, 
473;  his  active  interest  in  Con- 
ference of  Niagara  Falls,  474;  led 
into  ambush  by  the  enemy,  476; 
his  loyalty  unquestioned,  477; 
his  advocacy  of  the  resumption 
of  specie  payment,  480;  his  lack 
of  balance,  482;  his  tardy  recog- 
nition of  Lincoln's  wisdom  and 
statesmanship,  483 

Green,  William  S.,  his  estimate  of 
Thomas  Lincoln,  19 

Grierson,  Francis,  on  Lincoln's  magic 
touch,  49,  51 


562 


INDEX 


Gurley,  Dr.  P.  D.,  Lincoln's  pastor 
in  Washington,  40;  his  trusted 
counsellor,  40;  first  to  know  of 
Lincoln's  purpose  to  issue  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation,  228;  his 
suggested  changes  accepted,  228; 
on  Lincoln's  deepened  religious 
experience,  403;  extracts  from  his 
diary,  500-511 

Gurney,  Mrs.,  Eliza  P.,  head  of 
deputation  from  the  "Society  of 
Friends,"  34 

Halsted,  Murat,  his  explanation  of  an 
unfortunate  incident,  144 

Hampton  Roads  Conference,  241 

Hamlin,  Vice  President,  taken  into 
confidence  of  the  President,  226 

Hanks,  Nancy,  by  Caroline  Hanks 
Hitchcock,  19 

Hanks,  Nancy,  mother  of  Lincoln, 
19-25;  of  excellent  ancestry,  20; 
her  personal  charms,  20;  married 
at  twenty- three,  20;  her  great 
force  of  character,  21;  her  deep 
but  simple  piety,  2 1 ;  her  native 
refinement,  21 ;  her  appearance 
described,  22;  Lincoln's  tender 
trobute  to  her  memory,  23;  slan- 
derous statements  regarding  her 
birth  exposed,  25-28 

Hanaford,  Phebe  A.,  her  tribute  to 
mother  of  Lincoln,  21 

Harper's  Magazine,  402 

Hay,  John,  on  changefulness  of 
Lincoln's  expression  and  demeanor, 
1 8 ;  regarded  Lincoln  as  the  greatest 
man  since  Christ,  427,  514 

Hayes,  Ex-President  R.  B.,  on  Lin- 
coln's Second  Inaurgural,  144 

Herald  and  Presbyter,  quoted,  385 

Herndon,  William  H.,  Lincoln's  law 
partner,  25;  his  vile  slander  touch- 
ing the  illegitimacy  of  Lincoln  and 
his  mother,  25-27 

High  Schools,  study  of  Lincoln  rec- 
ommended for,  6 


His  favorite  song,  559 

His  Last  Picture,  A  Lincoln  story,  553 

Hitchcock,    Mrs.    Caroline    Hanks, 

25;  her  characterization  of  Thomas 

Lincoln,     19;    her    summation    of 

peerless  qualities  of  Nancy  Hanks, 

24 

Hoges,  A.  G.,  Lincoln's  letter  to  on 
evils  of  slavery,  188 

Holland,  Dr.  John  G.,  on  tran- 
scendent qualities  of  Lincoln's 
mother,  22;  on  Lincoln's  prayer- 
fulness,  377;  on  his  concealment 
of  religious  experience,  400;  on 
his  grief  at  lack  of  support  from 
the  churches,  436 

Holmes,  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell,  Atlantic 
article  on  Gilmore-Jaquess  mission, 
126 

Homiletic  Review,  quoted,  376 

Hour  of  soul  agony,  414,  415 

Iglehart,  Rev.  F.  C.,  D.D.,  charming 

Lincoln  story,  383;    another,  392 

Independent,  The,  article  in  quoted, 

374 

Independence  Hall  Address,  Lincoln's 

344 

Intelligencer,  The  National,  prints 
Lincoln's  open  letter  to  Greeley, 
469 

Jackson,  Mrs.  Trevena,  on  Bible 
as  the  one  book  of  Lincoln's 
mother,  299;  on  the  influence  of  the 
Bible  on  Lincoln's  character,  313 

Jacobs,  Dr.  Harvey  Eyester,  his  in- 
fluence on  Lincoln,  46 

Jaquess,  James  F.,  39,  83-140;  an 
honored  preacher,  39;  a  great 
factor  in  Lincoln's  life,  39;  his 
unique  mission,  83;  a  striking 
personality,  84;  colonel  of  the 
73rd  Illinois  Volunteers,  84;  a 
brave  officer,  84;  a  true  patriot, 
84;  a  prophet  of  judgment,  84; 
Lincoln's  estimate  of  him,  84; 


INDEX 


563 


his  embassy  of  peace,  85;  not 
fanatic  nor  quixotic,  86;  secretly 
backed  by  Lincoln,  89;  his  letter 
to  the  President,  92;  the  seeming 
refusal  of  his  request,  94;  Presi- 
dent keeps  in  background,  95,  96; 
meeting  of  Colonel  Jaquess  with 
General  Longstreet,  98;  the  Presi- 
dent's interest  in  the  mission,  100; 
the  Second  embassy,  100;  Gilmore 
chosen  as  leader  of  deputation, 
103,  104;  terms  of  agreement,  104; 
delicacy  of  the  task,  107;  inter- 
veiw  with  Jefferson  Davis  and 
Judah  P.  Benjamin,  in;  sub- 
mission of  terms,  112;  reply  of 
Davis,  113;  Col.  Jaquess,  noble 
manifesto,  114;  Gilmore's  report 
to  the  President,  117;  the  satis- 
faction of  the  Press  with  the  enter- 
prise, 117;  errors  corrected,  134; 
failure  of  Nicolay  and  Hay  to 
interpret  Jaquess'  part  in  the 
transaction,  135-137;  significance 
of  lost  letter,  137;  purpose  of  the 
volunteer  embassy  successfully  ac- 
complished, 140 

Johnson,  Andrew,  Vice- President,  his 
part  in  Second  Inauguration,  275; 
his  sad  lapsus,  291-294 

Jones,  Thomas  B.,  his  Dust  of  Lin- 
coln, 46 

Judd,  Hon.  Norman  B.,  Lincoln's 
host,  293;  on  Lincoln's  modesty,  407 

Judgment,  a  future,  Lincoln's  be- 
lief in,  388;  lived  in  the  light  of 
the  great  white  throne,  389;  held 
himself  answerable  to  God  in  all 
things,  389 

Keckley,  Elizabeth,  on  Lincoln  turn- 
ing to  the  Bible  for  comfort,  309; 
"When  Willie  Died,"  394 

Kelley,  Hon.  W.  D.,  gives  glimpses 
into  Lincoln's  home  life,  427 

King,  Gen.  Horatio,  on  Lincoln's 
definite  religious  consecration,  403 


Laws  of  Heredity,  Dr.  George  Wil- 
liams on,  28 

Leader,  The,  New  York,  on  vessels 
for  slave  trade,  180 

Led  by  a  Child,  A  Lincoln  Story,  527 

Led  by  the  Spirit,  A  Lincoln  Story,  515 

Liberator,  The,  quoted,  373 

Long,  Hon.  John  D.  on  Lincoln's 
early  environment,  33 

Lincoln,  the  Citizen,  Judge  H.  C. 
Whitney,  19,  184,  319,  338,  379 

Lincoln's  chasteness  in  conversation, 
A  Lincoln  Story,  558 

Lincoln  as  Lawyer  acts  as  a  Pastor, 
A  Lincoln  Story,  527 

Lincoln,  Robert  T.,  explains  his 
father's  melancholy  look,  75 

Lincoln  in  Story,  Silas  G.  Pratt,  528 

Lincoln  Scrap  Book,  326,  345,  371, 
375,  38o,  392 

Lincoln- Lee  Legion,  a  Temperance 
Organization,  148 

Lincoln,  President,  and  the  Chicago 
Memorial,  340 

Lincoln,  at  a  Saloon  Door,  a  Lin- 
coln Story,  535 

Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Phebe  A. 
Hanaford,  21 

Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  John  G. 
Holland,  377,  401 

Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Robert 
Browne,  408 

Life  on  the  Circuit  with  Abraham 
Lincoln,  Judge  Henry  C.  Whitney, 
76,  226,  346,  379,  403 

Life  of  Lincoln,  Charles  Coffin,  145 

Life  of  Lincoln,  Ida  M.  Tarbell,  380 

Life  of  Lincoln,  William  H.  Herndon, 
164 

Lutherans,  Evangelical,  Lincoln's  de- 
liverance to,  345 

Mask,  life,  of  Lincoln,  shows  a  face 
ideally  perfect,  62-65 

McAllister,  Hon.  Archibald,  his  sup- 
port of  Constitutional  Amendment, 
264 


5^4 


INDEX 


McClellan,  General,  nominee  of  Chi- 
cago Convention,  119 

McClure,  Col.  A.  K.,  his  reverence 
for  Lincoln,  48;  on  Lincoln's  ret- 
icence, 399;  his  characterization  of 
Greeley  as  a  disturber,  457 

McMaster,  portrait  of  Lincoln,  66 

Melvin,  Dr.  S.  H.,  the  custodian  of 
Lincoln's  lecture  on  "Discoveries 
and  Improvements,"  303 

Melvin,  Judge  Henry  A.,  owner  of 
manuscript  of  Lincoln's  lecture,  303 

Memories  of  White  House,  308 

Memorandum  of  Lincoln,  epoch- 
making,  124 

Men  and  Things  I  Saw  in  Civil  War 
Days,  Brigadier  General  Rusting, 

375 

Merwin,  Major,  his  Illinois  Temper- 
ance Campaign,  161 ;  his  reception 
at  White  House,  175 

Mills,  John  T.,  his  solicitude  about 
Lincoln's  health,  116 

Minutes,  Reunion  of  Illinois  In- 
fantry Volunteers,  297 

Miner,  Rev.  W.  W.,  Lincoln's  friend 
and  counsellor,  371 

Mix,  Captain,  his  close  relation  with 
President,  428 

Modesty  of  Lincoln,  speaks  of 
humble  birth,  406;  of  unfitness 
for  office,  407;  of  limitations,  407; 
lays  claim  to  sincerity  but  not  to 
greatness,  407 

Monfort,  Rev.  F.  C.,  his  confirma- 
tion of  Murdock  Story,  385 

Monitor,  The,  on  Lincoln's  exalted 
character,  426 

Morse,  J.  J.,  repeats  illegitimacy 
scandal,  26 

Motley,  John  Lothrop,  on  Lincoln's 
freedom  from  worldly  ambition,  427 

Munsell,  Olive  S.,  on  Lincoln's  view 
of  the  issue  of  the  War,  413 

Murdock,  James  F.,  his  service  to 
Lincoln,  384;  his  account  of  Lin- 
coln in  prayer,  385 


Niagara  Falls  Convention,  its  aim, 
118 

Nicolay,  in  Century  article,  on  Lin- 
coln's imposing  appearance,  50; 
declares  popular  impression  that 
Lincoln  was  "ugly,  gawky,  and 
ill-mannered"  radically  erroneous, 
59;  avers  his  face  was  pleasing 
in  repose,  74 

New  York  Legislature,  Lincoln's 
address  before,  344 

North  American  Review,  quoted,  348, 
411 

Ohio,  Legislature,  Lincoln's  address 

before,  344 
One  Letter  Wrong,  A  Lincoln  Story, 

554 

Order  for  Sabbath  observance,  Lin- 
coln's, 361 

Patton,   Rev.   W.   W.,   on   Chicago 

Memorial,  340 
Peace   Movement,   a   disloyal,    122; 

a  loyal,  128;  a  prayer  for,  120 
Feck,  Rev.  J.  M.,  his  infelicitous  cor- 
respondence with  Lincoln,  312 
Pierce,  H.  L.,  Lincoln's  letter  to,  on 

justice  to  God,  339 
Pendleton,  Thomas  F.,  on  Lincoln's 

treatment  of  a  visitor,  311 
Personal  Recollections  of  Abraham 

Lincoln  and  the  Civil  War,  James 

R.  Gilmore,  84,  410 
Personal  Recollections  of  Abraham 

Lincoln,    Mr.     and    Mrs.    Ralph 

Emerson,  320 
Personal  Traits  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 

Helen  Nicolay,  527 
Pollard  A.  E.,  on  secret  plans  of  the 

Confederates,  109 
Political  History  of  Slavery,  120 
Political  Recollections,  262 
Pomeroy,    Rebecca,    Lincoln    visits 

hospitals  with,  363 
Portraits  of  Lincoln,  63,  65,  71,  72, 

77,82 


INDEX 


565 


Prayer  for  Peace,  by  women  of 
Ohio,  1 20 

Prayer  of  Twenty  Millions,  The,  open 
letter  of  Greeley,  467 

Prayer,  Lincoln's  faith  in,  364;  a 
special  answer  to,  364;  asks  for 
prayers,  365;  calls  the  nation  to 
its  knees,  368;  asks  prayers  of 
visiting  clergymen,  369;  asks  pray- 
ers of  nurse  when  his  boy's  life  was 
trembling  in  the  balance,  369; 
visits  the  hospitals  with  Mrs. 
Pomeroy,  370;  removed  restric- 
tions to  holding  of  prayer  meetings, 
370;  his  attendance  at  Church 
prayer  meeting,  371 ;  his  comfort  in 
being  prayed  for,  371;  his  esti- 
mate of  secret  prayer,  372;  value 
of  prayer  for  the  nation,  372;  a 
charming  incident,  373;  another, 
374;  an  affecting  scene  with 
Father  Chiniquy,  375;  visit  from 
Friends,  375;  asks  Bishops  James 
and  Simpson  to  pray  for  him  in 
his  private  office,  476 

Graying  President,  A,  a  befitting 
title,  376;  early  sought  the  way  of 
prayer,  377;  pressed  to  his  knees 
by  the  weight  of  responsibility, 
378;  daily  prayer  a  habit,  378; 
testimony  of  Hon.  John  G.  Nicolay, 
378;  of  Major  Merwin,  379;  his 
prayer-life  genuine,  379;  went  to 
the  heart  of  things,  379;  talked 
with  God,  380;  prayer  and  praise, 
380;  early  morning  vigils,  381; 
in  agony  of  prayer,  382;  spent 
the  hour  between  four  and  five 
every  morning  in  prayer,  382; 
Sanitary  Commission  born  in 
prayer,  382;  touching  testimony 
of  James  F.  Murdock,  384;  prayer 
before  Gettysburg,  386;  testimony 
of  General  Sickles,  387;  prayer  a 
formative  force  in  Lincoln's  life, 388 

Prenatal  influence,  medical  author- 
ities, 28;  Bible  testimony,  29,  30 


Presbyterian,  The,  quoted,  385 
Punch,  The  London,  change  of  heart 

after  Lincoln's  death,  484 
Punishment,  future,  Lincoln's  be- 
lief in,  390;  held  that  character 
and  destiny  are  inseparably  con- 
nected, 390;  saw  no  hope  for  the 
finally  impenitent,  391 

Raymond,  Hon.  Henry  J.,  his  letter 
to  the  President,  123 

Recollections  of  a  Long  Life,  Dr. 
Theodore  Cuyler,  45 

Refused  to  Pledge,  a  Lincoln  Story, 
536 

Reid,  J.  A.,  in  Scribner's  Magazine, 
411 

Religion  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Gen- 
eral Charles  H.  T.  Collis,  419 

Religious  Experience,  Lincoln's, 
395-440;  evidence  of  his  personal 
religious  experience  cumulative  and 
overwhelming,  395;  his  conversion, 
395-398;  evidence  furnished  by 
Dr.  Jaquess,  396,  397;  silence 
touching  this  event  quite  under- 
standable, 398;  subsequent  period 
of  doubt  strictly  normal,  398; 
examined  into  the  ground  of  his 
hope,  398;  naturally  reserved  and 
reticent,  399 ;  revealed  his  religious 
convictions  only  to  those  who  were 
in  sympathy  with  them,  401 ;  in- 
trospective .and  self-exacting,  402; 
a  time  of  crystallization,  402;  in- 
dulged a  hope,  402 ;  his  purpose  of 
making  a  public  religious  confes- 
sion, 402;  makes  a  definite  con- 
secration, 403 ;  a  progressive  experi- 
ence, 403;  like  that  of  Paul,  404; 
changed  heart  evidenced  by  life, 
406;  restraints  of  modesty,  406; 
marked  self-depreciation,  407; 
deep  humility,  408;  absolute  hon- 
esty and  truthfulness,  408;  be- 
lieved himself  chosen  of  God,  409; 
fully  obedient  to  God's  will,  410; 


566 


INDEX 


his  reliance  upon  God,  411;  his 
unfaltering  trust,  412;  his  faith 
sorely  tied,  414;  his  spirit  of 
thankfulness,  416;  ascribed  all  vic- 
tories to  God,  416;  his  gratitude 
for  re-election,  420;  his  outlook 
upon  death,  421;  assassination  a 
possibility,  422;  his  life  in  God's 
hands,  423;  claimed  Christian 
privileges,  424;  his  character  es- 
sentially Christian,  426;  his  home 
life  ideal,  427;  why  not  a  church 
member,  430;  objected  to  lengthy 
creeds,  431;  repelled  by  the 
Church's  tolerance  of  slavery,  433; 
had  exalted  conception  of  charac- 
ter and  mission  of  the  Church, 
438;  could  not  conceive  of  a  Chris- 
tianity that  sanctioned  slavery  and 
rebellion,  440;  his  purpose  to  unite 
with  the  Church  unintentionally 
prevented,  440 

Religious  Faith,  Lincoln's,  299-363; 
his  faith  in  the  Bible,  299;  taught 
to  memorize  it  by  his  mother,  299; 
his  reverence  for  its  teachings,  300; 
his  indebtendess  to  Dr.  James 
Smith,  300;  his  repudiation  of 
Paine's  "Age  of  Reason,"  301; 
his  conference  with  Hon.  L.  E. 
Chittenden,  302;  his  lecture  on 
"Discoveries  and  Improvements," 
303;  quoted,  303,  304;  its  sig- 
nificance, 303-306;  his  love  for  the 
Bible,  307 ;  his  diligent  study  of  it, 
308;  his  recourse  to  it  for  com- 
fort, 309;  Bible  reading  a  daily 
habit,  310;  an  illustration  of  his 
accurate  Bible  knowledge,  311; 
his  apt  quotations,  311,  312; 
President  Roosevelt's  testimony, 
313;  his  faith  fundamental,  314; 
his  earliest  autograph,  314;  his 
belief  in  Divine  omnipotence,  316; 
in  Divine  omniscience,  317;  in 
Divine  omnipresence,  318;  belief 
in  the  Saviour's  Deity,  319;  ref- 


erence to  Christ's  temptation,  320; 
use  of  Christ's  words,  321-323; 
belief  in  our  Lord's  miracles,  323; 
in  his  atoning  sacrifice,  324;  story 
of  manuscript  against  Christianity 
false,  325;  a  manuscript  of  an- 
other sort,  325,  326;  use  of  scrip- 
ture in  touching  incident,  327, 
328;  his  declaration  of  faith  to 
Father  Chiniquy,  328,  329;  his 
belief  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  329,  330;  in  divine  lead- 
ings, 332,  333;  his  belief  in  prayer, 
334;  his  Thanskgiving  Proclama- 
tion analyzed,  337;  his  belief  in 
Divine  Sovereignty,  338;  in  him- 
self as  God's  instrument,  341;  his 
dependence  upon  God,  345;  his 
faith  in  an  overruling  Providence, 
347;  in  God's  purpose  concerning 
the  American  nation,  349;  in  God's 
retributive  justice,  350;  saw  gath- 
ering storm,  353;  ultimate  triumph 
of  the  right,  354-356;  his  faith  in 
Divine  compassion  and  mercy, 
357-359;  the  Church  as  a  divine 
institution,  359-361;  regard  for 
the  Christian  Sabbath,  361;  sal- 
vation by  faith  in  Christ,  362; 
personal  regeneration,  363 

Reminiscences  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
Thorndyke  Rice,  143,  319,  310,  361 

Reminiscences  of  Second  Inaugura- 
tion, 277-279;  its  stage  setting, 
278;  the  dramatic  scenes  described, 
272-282;  the  central  figure,  282; 
his  power  of  personality,  283;  his 
thrilling  utterance,  285;  its  happy 
introduction,  285;  its  electrical 
effect,  287;  its  apt  use  of  Scrip- 
ture, 288;  its  faultless  climax,  289; 
administration  of  oath  by  Chief 
Justice  Chase,  290;  Vice-President 
Johnson's  painful  episode,  291— 
294;  a  strange  day-star,  295; 
the  Inaugural  address  a  master- 
piece, 295,  296;  extolled  by  Dr. 


INDEX 


567 


J.  C.  Holland,  296;  by  Hon.  Isaac 

N.  Arnold,   296;    by  Hon.   Chas. 

Sumner,  297 ;  by  Carl  Schurz,  297 ; 

by    R.    B.    Hayes,    297;     by    the 

London  Press,  297,  298;    Lincoln's 

own  opinion  of  it,  298 
Rise   and   Fall   of   the   Confederate 

Government,  Jefferson  Davis,  134 
Robinson,    Charles    P.,    his    protest 

against  ConstitutionalAmendment, 

256 
Roberts,  Dr.  Wm.  H.,  his  testimony 

to    Lincoln's    presence    at    prayer 

meeting,   368 
Roosevelt,    Ex-President    Theodore, 

on  Lincoln's  absolute  mastery  of 

the   Bible,   313,   on   his   practical 

piety,  427 
Root,  Hog,  or  Die,  A  Lincoln  Story, 

544 

Rosecrans,  Gen.  W.  S.,  his  estimate 
of  Col.  Jaquess,  84;  his  participa- 
tion in  the  Gilmore-Jaquess  affair, 

84793 
Rusling,  James  P.,  his  war  memories, 

375;    his  certification  of  Lincoln's 

wrestling    in    prayer    before    the 

battle  of  Gettysburg,  387 
Russell,  Caleb,  Lincoln's  letter   to, 

345 

Russell,  Dr.  Howard  H.,  founder  of 
Anti-Saloon  League  and  Lincoln- 
Lee  Legion,  149;  discovery  of 
Cleopas  Breckenridge,  150 

Salisbury,    Senator,    his    pessimistic 

outlook,  271 
Sanitary  Commission,  born  of  prayer, 

383 
Second    Inauguration,    reminiscence 

of,  277 
Schurz,    Carl,    on    Lincoln's   Second 

Inaugural,  297 
Scribner's  Magazine,  69,  240,  301,  378, 

403,411 
Seeks    Fellowship    in    Prayer    with 

Beechcr,  A  Lincoln  Story,  539 


Seward,  Hon.  William  H.,  his  gloomy 
political  forecast,  123;  his  pre- 
sentiment of  Lincoln's  widening 
greatness,  276 

Shot  through  his  Hat,  A  Lincoln 
Story,  536 

Sickles,  Gen.  Daniel  E.,  Lincoln's 
declaration  to,  385 

Six  Months  in  the  White  House, 
F.  B.  Carpenter,  74,  77,  78,  225, 
349,  374,  400,  402,  410,  419,  438 

Slavery,  Lincoln  opposed  to,  176-218; 
Anti-slavery  conflict  a  thrilling 
romance,  176;  the  essential  char- 
acter of  slavery,  177;  Mexico's 
piteous  plea,  178;  an  unholy  traffic, 
179;  execution  of  Slave  pirate,  179; 
mercenary  motives,  180;  Lincoln 
"naturally  anti-slavery,"  180;  first 
public  protest,  181;  famous  anti- 
slavery  slogan,  182;  unwillingness 
to  interfere  with  slavery  where  it 
existed  constitutionally,  184;  nat- 
urally conservative,  185;  growth 
of  anti-slavery  sentiment,  186; 
opposition  to  the  extension  of 
slavery,  187;  the  Douglas  debate, 
187;  Peoria  Speech,  187,  188; 
speech  at  first  Republican  State 
convention,  189;  famous  Cooper 
Institute  speech,  189;  address  at 
New  Haven,  190;  commitment  to 
protection  of  slavery  as  required 
by  the  Constitution,  191;  appre- 
hension of  Southern  States  set  at 
rest,  191 ;  first  inaugural,  191 ; 
emancipation  foreshadowed,  193; 
embarrassed  by  Fremont's  prem- 
ature action,  194-202;  demand 
of  Kentucky  legislature  for  modi- 
fication of  Fremont's  proclamation, 
194;  attempt  at  subsidizing  jour- 
nalist, 201;  forecast  of  disaster, 
202;  Fremont  relieved  of  com- 
mand, 202;  qualified  permission 
to  employ  loyal  slaves  in  military 
service,  203;  unwarranted  recom- 


568 


INDEX 


mendation  of  Secretary  of  War, 
205;  futile  efforts  in  stemming 
the  tide  of  anti-slavery  legislation, 
208;  bill  introduced  by  Hon. 
James  M.  Ashley,  208;  its  final 
form  a  compromise,  210;  five 
anti-slavery  laws  passed,  212;  grad- 
ual abolishment  of  slavery  favored, 
215;  financial  compensation  to 
slave  owners  proposed,  216;  draft 
of  Emancipation  Proclamation  al- 
ready prepared,  217;  why  with- 
held, 217;  its  inevitableness,  218 

Smith,  Helen  Evenston,  in  the  Inde- 
pendent, 374 

Smith,  Rev.  James,  the  comforter 
of  Lincoln  in  bereavement,  31; 
on  Lincoln's  plea  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  Bible,  301 

Southern  History  of  the  War,  1 08 

Southern  Review,  179 

Southern  Standard,  179 

Speaking  Oak,  The,  Rev.  F.  G. 
Iglehart,  D.D.,  392,  529 

Spectator,  The  London,  on  Lincoln's 
Second  Inaugural  Address,  291 

Speed,  Joshua  F.,  Lincoln's  letter  to, 
on  price  of  loyalty,  188;  on  Lin- 
coln's love  for  the  Bible,  310 

Speed,    Mary,    Lincoln's    letter    to, 

307 

Standard,  The  Southern,  its  advocacy 
of  the  reopening  of  the  African  slave 
trade,  179 

Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  his  appointment 
as  Secretary  of  War,  207 

Stevens,  Hon.  Alexander  H.  on 
Lincoln's  unchangeable  purpose 
with  respect  to  emancipation,  241 

Stoddard,  William  O.,  on  Lincoln 
as  king  of  men,  49 

Stories  about  Lincoln,  515-559;  Led 
by  the  Spirit,  513;  A  Mother's 
Plea,  521;  Court  in  a  Cornfield, 
522;  World-wide  Fame,  524; 
Where  the  Whetstone  was,  526; 
Led  by  a  Child,  527;  Thoughtful 


for  Others,  528;  530;  The  Hired 
Man,  531;  Watched  with  a  Dying 
Soldier,  532;  Three  Terrors,  532; 
Frankly  Confessed  His  Fault,  533; 
Shot  through  His  Hat,  536;  Cour- 
ageous Fidelity,  537;  Refused  to 
Pledge,  536;  Seeks  Fellowship  in 
Prayer  with  Beecher,  539;  A 
Slave  Mother's  Prayer,  542;  A 
Scoffer  Weeps,  542 ;  Root,  Hog, 
or  Die,  544;  A  Patchwork  Quilt, 
How  it  Answered  Lincoln's  prayer, 
548;  His  Last  Picture,  553;  One 
Letter  Wrong,  453;  Lincoln's 
Characters  in  Conversation,  558; 
His  Favorite  Song,  559 
Strong  Friends  and  Foes,  34 
Sumner,  Hon.  Charles,  on  Second 
Inaugural,  297;  his  characteriza- 
tion of  Lincoln's  reconstruction 
scheme  as  "state  Suicide,"  487; 
his  final  acceptance  of  it,  488 
Swett,  Leonard,  his  testimony  re- 
garding Lincoln's  temperance  prin- 
ciples, 143 

Tarbell,  Ida  M.,  her  denial  of  the 
slander  of  Nancy  Hanks,  27 

Temperance,  Lincoln  and,  141-175; 
Lincoln  a  life-long  abstainer,  141; 
regarded  intemperance  and  slavery 
as  twin  evils,  141;  prevalence  of 
drinking  customs,  141;  strict  so- 
briety almost  unknown,  142;  es- 
poused temperance  cause  when  a 
boy,  143;  his  pledge  to  his  mother, 
143;  refusal  to  provide  liquors  for 
nominating  committee,  144;  Dec- 
claration  to  Sons  of  Temperance, 
145;  refusal  to  use  champagne  for 
sea-sickness,  145;  a  temperance 
lecturer,  146;  famous  temperance 
speech,  146;  not  responsible  for 
liquor  license,  154;  a  prohibitionist 
before  the  prohibition  party  was 
organized,  156;  a  supporter  of  the 
Washingtonian  movement,  157; 


INDEX 


569 


his  study  of  foundation  principles, 
159;  held  that  no  moral  wrong 
should  have  legal  sanction,  159; 
famous  State  House  Address,  160; 
ejid^rsej^ntjDf^Mairie^Law^  161 ; 
a  dynamic  utterance,  162;  par- 
ticipation in  prohibition  campaign, 
164;  prolonged  studies  of  pro- 
hibition a  preparation  for  his  de- 
bates with  Douglas,  165-167;  the 
foundation  prohibition  principle 
identical  with  that  of  republican 
national  platforms,  168;  opposed 
to  license  feature  of  internal 
revenue  measure,  170;  last  utter- 
ances on  the  question,  174 

Temperance  Movement,  The,  157, 
158 

Thanksgiving  Proclamation  of  Lin- 
coln, 238;  a  summary  of  their 
objects,  339 

The  Hired  Man,  A  Lincoln  Story,  527 

Thirty-six  Years  in  the  White  House, 

311 

Thirty-eighth  Congress,  249 

Thompson,  Dr.,  his  description  of 
Nancy  Hanks,  22 

Thompson,  George,  on  decisive  mo- 
ment when  slavery  was  doomed, 
218 

Thoughtful  for  Others,  A  Lincoln 
Story,  530 

Three  Terrors,  A  Lincoln  Story,  532 

Times,  The  London,  on  Lincoln's 
Second  Inaugural  Address,  298 

Todd,  Mary,  wife  of  Lincoln,  35-38; 
of  noble  lineage,  36;  of  high  cul- 
ture, 36;  exceptionally  fitted  to  be 
help-meet  of  Lincoln,  36;  her 
noble  ambitions,  36;  her  sym- 
pathy with  her  husband's  political 
aims,  36;  her  graceful  ministries, 
37;  her  unfailing  support  of  her 
husband,  38 

Transcript,  The  Boston,  Evening, 
on  the  Gilmore-Jaquess,  embassy, 
126 


Tribute  of  William  M.  Stewart,  276, 

277 
Trist,  Mr.,  U.  S.  Minister  to  Mexico, 

his  letter  to  James  Buchanan,  177 
True  Abraham  Lincoln,  The,  William 

Eleroy  Curtis,  19,  378 
Twenty  Years  in  Congress,  240,  252, 

258 

Uncompleted  Chapter  of  American 
History,  a  hitherto,  441 

Unpublished  manuscript  of  Rev.  P. 
D.  Gurley,  D.D.,  extracts  from, 
500;  secured  by  author  from  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Emma  K.  Adams, 
500;  Dr.  Gurley  chosen  as  pastor 
because  he  let  politics  alone,  500; 
a  morning  chat  with  the  President, 
501;  confidences  given,  501;  Lin- 
coln's fearlessness,  502;  Col.  Mos- 
by's  surprise  visit,  501;  Admiral 
Shufeldt's  secret  mission,  502; 
How  to  tell  a  story,  502;  address 
delivered  at  little  Willie's  funeral, 
502;  Lincoln's  fondness  for  it, 
503;  presentation  of  cane  to 
Dr.  Gurley,  505;  outpouring  of 
sympathy  over  little  Willie's  death, 
505;  how  colored  people  took  news 
of  Lincoln's  death,  506;  the  Ceno- 
taph, by  James  T.  McKay,  508 

Valley  of  the  Shadows,  Francis 
Grierson,  49,  51 

Vinton,  Dr.  Francis,  a  helpful  spir- 
itual adviser,  39 

Volk,  Leonard  W.,  his  death-mask 
of  Lincoln,  45,  61,  79 

Vote,  popular  in  six  states,  in  1864, 132 

Wade- Davis  Manifesto,  485-499;  a 
dangerous  revolt,  485;  Davis  a 
strong  personality,  485;  a  violent 
extremist,  485;  the  status  of  rebel 
states  a  burning  question,  485; 
radical  reconstruction  advocated 
by  Davis  and  Wade,  486;  Lincoln 


570 


INDEX 


opposed  to  it,  486;  his  message  to 
Congress  on  the  subject,  487;  a 
chorus  of  approval,  488;  Garfield's 
great  satisfaction,  489;  appoint- 
ment of  special  committee  with 
Davis  as  chairman,  490;  report  in 
conflict  with  President,  490;  bill 
amended  by  Senate,  and  finally 
passed,  492;  President  refrains 
from  attaching  signature,  495; 
manifesto  by  Wade- Davis,  495; 
its  spirit  infelicitous  and  harmful, 
495 ;  its  base  insinuations  to  painful 
to  the  President,  497 ;  Ashley's  sup- 
port a  comfort,  499;  Davis'  Re- 
construction Bill  finally  killed  by 
vote  of  Congress,  499 

Wakeman,  Abraham  Lincoln's  letter 
to,  108 

Walker,  Robert  J.,  Greeley's  effort 
to  annex  him,  460 

War  between  the  States,  24 

War  Records,  203 

Washburn,  Hon.  Elihu  B.,  his  proph- 
ecy of  failure  of  presidential  cam- 
paign, 123;  on  significance  of  Lin- 
coln's labors  for  Temperance,  162 

Watched  with  a  Dying  Soldier,  A 
Lincoln  Story,  532 

Welles,  Hon.  Gideon,  on  Lincoln's 
great  strength,  46 


Wesley's  characterization  of  slavery, 
182 

What  was  Abraham  Lincoln's  re- 
ligion?, 379 

Where  the  Whetstone  Was,  A  Lin- 
coln Story,  520 

White,  Andrew  D.,  on  melancholy 
tinge  in  portraits  of  Lincoln,  75 

Whitney,  Judge  H.  C.,  on  sociability 
of  Thomas  Lincoln,  19 

Williamson,  Alexander,  on  Lincoln's 
careful  study  of  the  Bible,  308 

Williamson,  Dr.  George,  on  prenatal 
influence,  28 

Wilson,  Senator,  his  opposition  to 
the  license  feature  of  the  Internal 
Revenue  measure,  171 

Wilson,  Hon.  James  P.,  account  of 
interview  with  President,  347 

Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Federal 
Edition,  184 

Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  Noah 
Brooks,  20,  189 

World,  The  New  York,  on  deporta- 
tion of  slaves,  180 

Yeaman,  Hon.  George  H.,  his  oppo- 
sition to  Emancipation  Proclama- 
tion, 260;  his  political  conversion, 
262;  vote  cost  him  his  political 
head,  270 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


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